Sister
by Lady Stranger
Summary: SQ- After Regina and Emma save the town from the trigger, Snow notices that what her daughter and ex-step mother have is true love. Before they get to realize it on their own, she sabotages their chances.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owner.

* * *

**Sister **

It's funny how life has a way of biting you in the ass sometimes. The things you try so hard to achieve, going against fate, destiny, and the raging current. The things you know in you heart to be true and sincere, but you lie to yourself over and over again until you're convinced; I can change what is meant to be. I can't change the past, but at least I can change the future.

The fact is, Snow had made a huge mistake. Yes, Regina had done a lot of things to destroy Snow, but the brunette had also done a lot of things to try to redeem herself, as well. That much, Snow knew. She knew she had been hard on the former mayor, and she knew that she hadn't done this to protect Regina and everyone else like she had told herself at night.

The simple and raw truth? She had done this to separate her daughter from Regina as soon as possible, so they both don't realize they were each other's true love. That was the plan, and as evil as it sounded, it was also very simple. It wasn't supposed to backfire, or come and bite her.

* * *

It had been 2 years ago.

Regina's life had been in danger.

"We all know it was the evil queen. Just release her to us!" One said from the angry mob outside Granny's diner.

"She must have been working with Tamara and Greg. It's her doing, and we all know it!" Another added.

"Yeah, just hand her over!"

"This is the best chance we'll ever get to killing her. She doesn't have her magic back yet."

Emma stood still, the vein on her forehead was collecting anger. "Can you hear yourselves?" She said in a low voice, "You guys want to pick on a woman who lost everything."

"Don't defend her," Leroy said.

"I'm not defending her. I'm stating the obvious. You, pathetic lot, want to pick on someone who's unconscious and was tortured not even an hour ago. She saved Storybrooke. I was there, and I will testify to her change in behavior."

"Bullshit!" Leroy said, "She didn't save anyone. And if she did, it was her curse that bought danger upon us to begin with. She needs to be punished!"

"Yeah!" Some roared in unison. "Kill the witch! Kill the witch!" They started chanting.

"Enough!" Emma yelled, "enough. This might be how you dealt with criminals in your land, but this is not the Enchanted forest. This is Earth, and on Earth we do things our way. There are laws here." She glanced to her right, and saw that David was next to her.

"Hey," he said, "What's going on here?" he asked.

"They want to kill Regina," Emma informed her dad, rubbing her temples. "I'm done here, David. I'll go see how Snow's doing with Regina."

David flinched, feeling guilty for having to be the one to stall his daughter. "They're okay. You sure you don't want to stay, and lock up a few of the protestors?"

"I can do that?"

"You are sherif, aren't you?"

"I am." She said, her voice enlightened at the notion. "I can lock them up."

David smiled sadly, "Well, I'll go check on Snow then. If something happen, you call me okay?"

Emma nodded, "I will."

* * *

"Can you do it?" Snow asked as she fidgeted with the hemline of her sweater.

"I can, yes. It will require a lot of magic, but I can lock away the queen's memories." The blue fairy nodded, and waited for Snow's orders.

The petite woman inhaled deeply, and closed her eyes. This was a big decision, and she was happy that David was on board. At first he wasn't, but when she had told him about Regina being Emma's true love, he relented. She had explained to him that to be able to stop something as big as a trigger device, it was impossible to do so without a counterpart magic that was just as strong, if not stronger.

Regina and Emma's magic was definitely stronger, but she had chosen to keep that little piece of information to herself.

"Good, then do it. Erase her memories." Snow ordered, and looked away from the unconscious woman who had been her step mother in the past. "They're going to kill her if we don't do this." She reasoned.

The blue fairy stared at Snow, unconvinced, but she would still follow orders. It wasn't like Regina was a victim, she thought. The evil queen had killed so many people in the past, and this was a way to give her redemption. It might not have been ideal, but it was merciful than leaving her to die.

She nodded, "Alright. What kind of life do you want me to give her?"

Snow looked over at Regina, "A life where she'd spend helping others."

The blue fairy nodded, and started her magic.

* * *

"You did what?" Emma asked, bringing a glass of milk to her lips. "Where is she now? Henry had been asking about her for a week."

"She's gone." David said, his voice low and deep.

"What do you mean she's gone? Gone to the mansion?" Emma brought the spoon to her mouth, and chewed on cornflakes. "I called her the other day, but she never answered. I think she might be a bit scared, with temporarily losing her magic and all."

"Emma," David started, "Regina's gone."

The blonde snapped her head up, "Where to?"

"Your mother and I," he motioned to Snow who was sitting next to Emma in the kitchen, "Made sure she's in a safe place, and without her magic so she wouldn't hurt herself or others."

"I don't understand," Emma said, "What did you guys do?" She pushed off the stool, and paced around the apartment. "Where is she?" She was starting to panic, and whatever doubt David had in the past, flew out the window. They weren't together, he mused, and his daughter was panicking already.

"We made sure she's in a safe place, Emma." David said.

"Cut the fucking crap!" She yelled, "Tell me the truth. Now!"

"Emma..." Snow began.

"No, the truth."

Snow looked over at her husband, and shook her head. David looked over at his daughter, and sighed. "We erased her memory, and gave her a new one."

"Like Lacy?" She asked.

David nodded, "More or less. Yes."

"Where is she now?" Emma asked.

"I can't tell you where she is. All I can say that she's safe."

She turned to her mother, "Snow, where is she?"

"Emma..." Snow began.

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

Her parents shook their heads. "No, we won't."

"What about Henry?"

"He only needs one mother."

* * *

Yes. That was definitely a mistake. Which is why now Snow is standing on the border, crying her eyes out. It had been 2 years since Regina was sent away, and 2 years since Emma had started looking up Regina's whereabouts. Snow nods her head towards the other side of the line, "She left," she says to her husband. "Said she'd right our wrongs."

"Snow," David starts, wrapping his arms around his wife. "She'll be back. She'll see that Regina is better off where she's living, and she'll come back."

"But what if she doesn't?" She sniffs, "What if she brings Regina back with her?"

"Would you rather she comes back with Regina? Or that she doesn't come back at all?" He asks, rubbing his wife's back.

"Of course I want her to come back. With or without Regina. But, if Regina does come back, then we're screwed. Emma will hate us when she finds out why we sent Regina away."

"No she won't. She's our daughter."

"Yes she will, David. We took away her happy ending." She whimpers, sobbing again. "We're just like Regina. We destroyed Emma's happy ending."

David doesn't know what to say to that. Instead, he keeps holding his wife, soothing her down.

* * *

Emma can't believe her eyes. She knew her parents had sent Regina to San Francisco, but she didn't expect this. This was too much. Turning to face the building, she switches her phone to silent, and walks inside.

"Can I help you?" A man smiles her way, his eyes disappearing into thin lines. He's good looking. Handsome, tall, and has blonde hair and blue/green eyes. Much like hers.

"Yeah," she says, nervous as hell. "Regina Mills?"

"Ah," he says, and Emma is surprised her parents let Regina keep her name. "This way," he says.

"Thanks," Emma says, and then remembers to correct herself. "Thank you, father."

The man chuckles, "You don't have to call me father if you don't want to." He turns to face her, and extends his arm. "I'm Sebastian."

The blonde woman eyes his hands, then finally relents. "Emma Swan."

"Emma Swan?" He asks, his voice loud and he's surprised to see her. "I see, then you're her aren't you?"

"I'm what now?" She says.

He shakes his head, completely amused. "This way," he says, and takes her to room inside the church.

"That's Regina's room." Sebastian says, and excuses himself.

Emma knocks on the door, and when Regina tells her to come in, she does. "Hey," she sheepishly greets.

"Hello," Regina says, fixing her hair veil. "Can I help you?" She says, her voice low and polite.

The blonde stares at Regina, eyes wide. The woman in front of her looks the same, sounds the same, but is a completely different person. The brunette seems younger and somehow even more beautiful. She wasn't showing much skin, and then it hits Emma. Regina's a nun now.

"You're a nun?"

Regina smiles, "A sister." She corrects.

"Are you happy?" Emma blurts out.

The former queen chuckles, "I am. Why do you ask?"

I'm not happy that you're happy, she thinks. Emma wants nothing more than to reach for Regina, and hug her. She had missed the brunette deeply, and wanted to identify her emotions, but in the absence of said brunette, it was difficult. Now that Regina's a sister, she's thinking about turning back to Storybrooke. The older woman looks happy, and peaceful. Why turn her life upside down?

"I'm Emma Swan," She extends her hand, "Nice to meet you Regina."

Regina's eyes widen, "Emma?" She says.

For a moment, there's hope in Emma's eyes.

"I have something of yours," Regina says, and fishes through her drawer. She takes out a locket, and hands it to Emma. "Your name is written on the inside." She smiles.

Emma eyes her locket, and wonders why Regina has it. "You can keep it," she says. She doesn't want that locket, and she doesn't want to disturb Regina's peace. She can't be selfish like that.

"I can't do that. It's yours."

"Yes you can." Emma says, walking closer to Regina. She takes her hands in hers, and tightens her hold. "It's my gift to you."

The brunette smiles sadly, "We can't accept gifts."

"Please," Emma pleads, "It can be our little secret."

Regina opens her mouth to say something, but Emma places a finger to stop her. She shakes her head, "Our little secret." She whispers.

Regina blushes, and nods with a low 'okay.'

"Good girl," Emma says, "I have to go now. But I'll see you later."

Regina stares at Emma from under her lashes.

"Can I come see you again?" Emma asks after a beat or two.

Regina smiles, "Of course. Any time."

* * *

A/N: It's just a story. Please don't attack me if you're offended by it. I have nothing against Catholics, or any religion for that matter. I apologize if I did offend anyone, but know that it wasn't intentional.

Hope you liked this one shot!


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owner.

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for the interest, feedback, follows, favorites, and for reading. As I promised, the longer chapter. After this one, I'll stop updating for about a month. I might update if I felt like I had to write a chapter because my fingers are just trembling to write more, but until that happens, there will be no updates for a while. Okay? Okay.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

* * *

Sister

2

What to do. What to do. What to do. What to do...

Emma chants in her head, pacing the grey pavement outside Regina's place. The Church, she corrects. Regina's church, where she sleeps in a tiny room in the back with one nightstand, a bible by her side, and many variations of the color black in her small, wooden wardrobe.

It's been three days since she saw Regina, and in those three days Emma had been weighing the cons and pros of telling the brunette the truth, and perhaps bringing her back to Storybrooke with her, or turning back, and leaving Regina to her happy little life. She had wrote some of the points down on her iPhone. The list had been quite short, and to the point:

Don't tell Regina:

1- So she wouldn't become the evil queen, and rain fire on us.

Tell Regina:

1- Because she deserves to know.

Of course there had been more than one reason for each, but Emma had figured these two reasons were enough to make her settle on a decision. She should tell Regina. That Regina didn't chose this life, that Regina was forced into it, was enough of a reason. It isn't much of a reason than it's a fact, really, and that's why she's outside The Church now, pacing like an addict who's two weeks into rehab.

Now that it's time to tell the brunette, though, Emma finds that she doesn't want to rush things. Maybe she should make sure that this little life the former mayor has within the four walls of the church is worth throwing away. Also, should she tell Regina the truth, there's a chance that she won't believe Emma. She'd look like a fool, and maybe even get admitted into a psychiatric facility.

"Maybe I should kidnap her," Emma thinks out loud. "That could work…"

"Emma?" Someone calls for her, jarring her back to reality.

Emma turns to face the source of the voice, and gives herself a minute or two, just studying the brunette in front of her. Then she decides that it is in fact Regina. "Regina," She breathes out, "Hey."

"Hello," The brunette greets, a bag of groceries in the other hand. "What are you doing here?" She asks, her eyes watching Emma carefully.

Emma shakes her head, "I-I, you know. I was in the area."

Regina nods once or twice, "Well, would you like to come inside?" She asks, motioning to The Church. Then she turns back to face the blonde, and knits her brows, "I have to leave in half an hour, but if you need any more assistance, I'll make sure one of the sisters is available."

"No," Emma exclaims, "I only want you." She steps closer, "I only want to talk to you, I mean." She elaporates, trying as much as possible not to scare the brunette away. She is, after all, a sister.

"Oh," Regina smiles, "Alright. Come inside, and we'll talk."

Emma matches Regina's smile, and rubs the back of her neck. "Lets," She says shyly.

Facing the building, Emma studies the victorian styled, brownish church that is more or less surrounded by rows of neatly trimmed trees. The entrance decorated by a circular garden of flowers, and a beautiful water fountain in the shape of a swan, and that seems to be broken. Emma wonders why she hadn't noticed how beautiful The Church really is before. Then again, her heart was beating so hard when she first saw the brunette, she had thought she was having a heart attack.

"Emma?" Regina says.

Emma's head snap up at Regina, who's at the top of the stairs, and her eyes widen at how beautifully young the brunette looks. "Give me just a minute," She say, and waits for Regina to go inside.

Emma glances at her watch, and decides she's already late for her meeting with her friend; Sam, who she had promised to meet at noon. Now it was past 12, and most certainly is going to be late. She quickly types down an apologetic text that says she's going to arrive an hour later, and follows Regina inside.

* * *

"Have a seat," Regina motions to the front row of benches, and sits herself. She looks up, and smiles broadly at the stock-still woman waiting by the entrance. "Emma?"

Emma sighs, and walks over to the changed woman. She sits down next to Regina, and fiddles with the sleeves of her jacket. Regina studies the blonde, and smiles sadly. She fishes through her grocery bag, and offers a can of Arizona tea to the younger woman.

Emma eyes the can, and unconsciously lets out a chuckle. "I never knew you liked tea," She says, "Cheap tea at that." She looks over at the brunette and smile.

Regina's eyes widen, "Do you know me?" She asks, her voice shaky and revealing too much vulnerability, Emma is sure her heart is about to break for the brunette.

The blonde stares at Regina, wishing time machines were real so she could go back in time to take back her words, and possibly to stop Grease 2 from ever making it to the big screen. She sits there, mouth agape, and eyes fluttering like a fool. "Umm," She stammers, "Actually, no." She decides to go with a lie, even thought it's completely the truth. In all honesty, she doesn't know the brunette one bit. All she's ever known about her, is that she likes apples, and the finer things in life, and tidiness, and punctuality, and pencil skirts that are sometimes too tight to walk in, and high heels, and authority.

Okay, maybe she did know Regina, but not as much as she wanted to.

"Oh," Regina says, disappointment clearly evident on her face. "I thought perhaps you might know me."

Emma shakes her head slightly, "But you do remind me of a...a friend I used to know. She, like yourself, was a beauty." She smiles broadly, and pops the Arizona can open, as if she hadn't said something so abnormal, and to a sister nonetheless.

Regina hums awkwardly, and politely thanks the younger woman. When Emma asks, "For what?" The brunette shakes her head, dismissing the subject.

But then Regina decides that perhaps she wants to know more about this friend, so she asks, "How was she like? Your friend, I mean."

"Umm," Emma trails, thinking about the last time she had seen mayor Mills. It had been right after the trigger was contained, and Regina had fainted while walking back to her mansion. They had helped her to MM's instead, and that was the last time she had ever seen her. Lying on the bed, her body shivering with heat, and her voice whimpering as she struggled through her magic withdrawal. "She was...strict, jealous, and very hard on me. I was always afraid she was going to hit me, and then she actually did-"

"-I'm not like that!" Regina shrieks, for the first time her voice is louder than Emma's. "I'm sorry," She quickly add, watching as the blonde's eyes grow wider. "I'm just not." She innocently adds, and looks away in shame.

Then Emma laughs, her voice throaty and rhythmic to Regina's ear. "Right now, when you screamed, you reminded me of her."

"I did not scream," Regina pouts, and Emma stares at her in wonder.

She shakes her head, "You didn't," She assures, and takes another sip from the tea can. "She's nothing like you, but she's completely you." Emma says, locking her eyes with the brunette. She wants nothing more than to have the old Regina back, but she finds that this one is not so bad, too. This one smiles, laughs, and even blushes at compliments.

With a sigh, Emma takes out her iPhone, and type down under 'Don't Tell Regina':

2- She smiles now.

Regina eyes the blonde cautiously, and clears her throat. "We're actually not supposed to eat or drink here," She says, and reaches for the can. "I keep forgetting, even though father Sebastian reminds me of it very often."

"No," Emma says flatly, protecting the can with both her hands. "This is mine, you gave it to me."

Regina steals glances between her, and the can. Her expression saying how much she's struggling to be strict, and authoritative with the blonde, but at the same time she's trying to be polite and kind.

Emma smiles at that. At Regina's bewildered expression, and her small, adorable pout. "I'm just teasing," Emma says, and hands back the can to Regina. "It's almost empty," She says.

Regina looks up at Emma, "It's half full," She tells her, "It's always full." Standing up, and moving towards the back to her room.

The blonde nods,"Always full, huh?" She takes out her iPhone again, and types down.

3- She has hope now.

"You coming?" Regina asks, and for a minute Emma wonders if she should just leave right now, and never come back.

But she finds that to be impossible now. Now she just wants to get to know Regina, even though they're not the same people. Or maybe they are, she doesn't know yet.

"Sure," She answers.

* * *

"Here," Regina hands back the tea can, and motions for Emma to sit on the bed.

Emma hesitatingly complies, and looks up at Regina expecting to be blasted away with insults. When that doesn't happen, the blonde smiles to herself like a fool, and then proceeds to shake her head at how silly she must look to the brunette. "Sorry," She says, not sure apologizing for what exactly. For Regina losing her memory? For sending her away? Or for moving on with their lives like none of that had occurred? Emma's not sure.

She is sure, though, that she's done none of those sins to Regina. Emma, and Emma alone, was the only one who had been earnestly looking for the brunette. Just Emma. True, Henry had tried to locate the fallen queen, but he's just a kid, and with losing his father, and then his adoptive mother, he had made it his business not to care anymore. Everyone leaves me, he had thought. And on several occasions, his blonde mother had heard him cry late at night.

So yeah, maybe Emma's doing this for herself, but, she also wants her son to be happy, and for him to have a part of his life back, that he thought he'd lost forever. Of course, whatever he had thought about him mother's disappearance after the fact, had been nothing but an elaborate lie that his grandparents had told him.

"She must have escaped the town while we were busy rebuilding it." Were Snow's exact words. Emma had kept quiet, though. Because how can she take away the only family left, besides herself, from Henry? A child who had been through enough hells to be an expert at the type of torture.

Yes, of course Emma had kept quiet about it all, but from the inside, she was boiling over with anger that had slowly over time transformed into a newfound aggravation towards her parents, and to life in general.

"Emma?" A palm against her forehead, and Regina's unbelievably young face a mere centimeters away. "Are you okay? You've been quiet for 5 minutes." The brunette asks, he knees bending on the dusty floor.

"Uh, I'm..." Emma suddenly stammers, and gulps erratically from her tea can. "I'm alright," She says, and that lie in itself is the breaking point that she had so earnestly tried to avoid. But the fact is, Emma is not 'alright', she is broken with every meaning of the word. The family she had spent all of her childhood and teen years looking for, had so willingly took away the one person she had related to, and had been actually intent on saving as a savior. Without Regina around, Emma had felt empty, numb, bored, and surprisingly, she was saddened. And that was not even the start of it, for Snow and David had not trusted Emma enough to consult her with such madness, and that had been one of the more staggering issues that struck her directly to the heart.

_No._

_They don't trust me._

_They don't want my opinion._

_I don't matter to them._

With that kind of thinking, how could anyone enjoy life?

Regina places her hands on Emma's shoulders, and she gently pushes the younger woman onto the bed. She reaches for Emma's boots, takes them off, and stands over the blonde, looking down at her. "You're not alright," She tells her, "You need to rest."

Emma looks up at Regina, and for a minute she wonders if the brunette, somehow, has her memories back, and is referring to Emma's life back in Storybrooke, and how betrayed she feels. Emma blinks, and Regina's face is darkened in a way that could only mean the sister harbors nothing but concern for her. She nods then, "Okay," She says obediently, and places a hand over her chest, and wills the pain to stop. Regina has no idea how awful Emma's life had been, and now that she's a sister, she will never know.

"I'll be right back," Regina suddenly says, and exists the room.

After the sister leaves, Emma closes her eyes, and evens her breathing. She knows the life at Storybrooke had been slowly but effectively suffocating her, however she had only realized how much just now, as everything she's been through came rushing back to her in small tiny needles, striking her body.

"Shit!" She curses, wiping away her tears.

* * *

Regina knocks on father Sebastian's door, "Father? Father, are you in there?" She asks, but receives no answer. She glances around, and wonders if he'd already left to give his speech at the nearby elementary school. She is supposed to tend to the younger children, while the teachers sat in on the lecture.

She glances at the clock suspended up against one of the walls, and realizes she's about 5 minutes late, and father Sebastian must be at the school by now. She walks quickly to the office room, where they usually accept visitors who want to donate or want to arrange an event, and she reaches for the phone. Dialing the school's number, she stomps her feet impatiently.

"Hello?" A young voice answers.

"Hello, there." Regina says, "Can I speak with father Sebastian?"

"Father who?" The child asks.

"Father Sebastian? He's from The Church?"

"Ohhh," The young boy says, and takes off, leaving Regina stranded by the phone.

About three minutes later, Father Sebastian picks up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello, father. It's sister Regina."

"Sister," The father replies, with a little bit more than concern lacing his voice. He'd never seen Regina act this way, or even pick up a phone before. "Where are you? Is everything alright?"

"Yes," The brunette quickly says, "I mean, I'm calling because I can't make it to the school, father. Someone needs my help, and I think I should stay with them until they've recovered."

"I see," He says, and she could hear the man contemplate this thoughts, "Are they in dire need?" He asks after a pause.

"Yes, they need me."

"I understand, sister, but is it urgent? Or can you come back to them later? Because you've already made a commitment, and as a christian, we try our best to keep our promises. Remember?"

How can she forget? She has a small veil on her head, and blackness on her body as a reminder.

Regina stays quiet, not really knowing what to say. Emma truly needs her help, with what? She doesn't know, but she knows that the blonde needs an ear, and right now, she finds that she's more than willing to be that ear.

When the silence stretches, father Sebastian speaks again, "I'll see you in five, Regina. Don't be late more than you already are." And with that, he hangs up the phone.

Regina sighs angrily at the phone like it's to blame, and takes a few deep breaths before she makes her way back to Emma. With one last glance at the wall, she resists the urge to yank the clock off, and smashing it to bits. Then as if she's been caught cheating on a test, she offers a little prayer asking for forgiveness, and finally she enters the room.

* * *

"Hey," Emma sheepishly says, "I was wondering where you went off to." She's sitting on the edge on the bed, cradling her phone with both hands. It looks like she'd just sent a text, and was about to leave.

"Are you all better now?" Regina asks, eyeing the blonde from afar.

Emma nods, "Though I'm sorry about my mini heart attack from earlier. It's just..." She trails, shaking her head.

"What?" Regina says, all too eager to know the answer. Then she remembers her place, and her face winces at her rudeness. "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She smiles, and walks closer to Emma. "Are you leaving?" She asks, sitting beside the younger woman on the bed.

Emma nods, "I promised to meet up with a friend, and she lives by half an hour away from here." Seeing Regina's disappointed face, and hearing her sigh, "But I can stay if you want me to," She adds.

"Oh, no. It's alright, I just thought you wanted to talk, and as a sister, I should help. Plus..." She sighs then, and locks eyes with Emma, "I suppose I just want to know how I got ahold of this necklace." She motions to her chest, where she has it hidden underneath layers of fabric. "Your necklace."

Emma stares at Regina for a minute or two, and wonders how much calmer, and nicer this Regina is. They're not the same, she thinks, but she can't help her next words, because even if Regina's different, Emma is still the same. "If I tell you how you got it, what are you going to give me in return?"

The brunette's eyes widen, and she visibly gasps. She's not used to people declining her requests, and especially not people whom she's nice to. "God would-"

"-I'm not really religious." Emma interjects.

"Then the satisfaction of helping-"

"-Don't get me wrong, I would love that, but the thing is, I want something of value."

"I don't have money, and-"

"-Not money, no. Something else."

"Then what do you want!?" Regina sneers, "I can't give you money, and you don't want to help me, or help God. What do you want?"

"I don't know." Emma squints her eyes, and wonders for how far can she prolong this joke. The brunette looks just too damn adorable, and the blonde seems to have went a bit too far, since Regina looks ready to sacrifice a lamp to get the information that she wants.

"Well, isn't that lovely." Regina says, crossing her arms.

"Excuse me?" Emma says, crossing her arms also.

Regina straightens her arms by her sides, and gets up. She paces for about 10 seconds, and then turns to face the blonde. "Forgive me," She says with a low voice, a sweet tune, and a completely fake smile, "I did not mean to use that tone with you."

At that, Emma laughs. All of this seems like a scene out of a comedy movie, and Emma's the smart, protagonist of a nerd who at the end, ends up saving the day. "I forgive you," She says, and stops herself from laughing further at how Regina's lower lip jut out in anger.

"I figured out what I want in return, though." Emma says after a moment of pause.

The brunette is standing across from the bed, lost in thought, as Emma approached her quietly. "What do you want?" Regina asks, her eyes snapping up, and locking with Emma's greens.

"3 favors. You will owe me 3 favors, and I will tell you how you got that necklace." Emma says, smiling down at Regina. And because the brunette doesn't have any heels on like her usual mayor self, Emma is a good 5 centimeters taller than her.

"What favors?" The sister asks.

"I don't know yet, but I will tell you when I think of any."

And because Regina's a sister now, she doesn't question what kind of favors, but instead, she's happy that someone would need her help. She's happy that she could spend some time with the blonde, too, but why is that? She can't tell for sure, but at least she knows Emma is a good person. She has a good hunch about her, and she finds that she trusts the young blonde. Even more than she should.

"Deal," Regina says, extending her hand.

Emma glances at the proffered hand, and smiles. And before the brunette can see it coming, she launches forward, and embraces the sister in a tight hung. I missed you, Regina, she thinks. When she pulls back, the brunette is staring at her like Emma had clown makeup on her face.

"Relax," Emma says, smiling at the motionless Regina. "Its a hug to seal the deal," She clarifies. With that, she turns away, and leaves the room.

On her way over to her rental car, she takes out her phone, and types under 'don't tell Regina':

4- She trusts me.

Then under 'tell Regina':

2- She trust so easily.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owner.

* * *

Sister

3

"Sam, over here," Emma waves her old friend over like she'd seen her yesterday, but in reality it'd been a good 10 years since they'd parted ways.

"Hey," Sam sheepishly waves back, her body thinning and contorting in funny ways as she tries to hide the baby-bump from Emma, but miserably fails to do so.

"Hey," the younger blonde says back with a smile, "and hey to you, too." She bends down a tad from where she casually sits, talking to Sam's stomach.

"Is it cozy in the devil's tummy, baby?"

Sam chuckles then, "you haven't changed." She says, going around the table to drop a kiss to Emma's cheek. She sits next to the blonde, and flings her purse on the empty chair. She waves a waiter over, and asks for a glass of water and a menu.

"Sorry I'm late," Sam says once the waiter leaves them to their devices.

"I bet you are," Emma counters in a sing-song-like voice, and wiggles her brows.

"You haven't changed," Sam repeats her line from earlier, albeit this time around with annoyance weighing down her smile.

Emma shakes her head, "sorry," she murmurs, "sometimes I try to be funny when I'm actually very nervous."

Sam nods once, "I know," she tells her, placing her right hand over Emma's for a brief moment of contact, but then pulls away, eyeing the ring that settles on her ring finger.

Emma sighs under her breath, this isn't going as planned, she thinks. "You're engaged?" She asks. She's happy for her friend. She really is, but she also needs a roommate if she's to stay in San Francisco long enough for her to settle the whole 'Regina is a sister' affair.

"Who's the lucky person?" Emma asks with a warm smile decorating her lips. A smile that falters the moment it meets Sam's watery eyes, "I'm sorry," Emma immediately pleads as she feels a sense of guilt sinking deep down within.

Sam had been the friend she had leaned on the most after her infamous debacle with Neal. It was really their shared sob-story that had pushed them together, except Samantha's Neal had been her adoptive father; who in a move of utter selfishness, had pinned his crimes on his adoptive daughter to save himself. Amongst other issues that went undetected by the authorities -Emma suspects rape to be within the list- robbery and assault were the top two of Sam's father's favorites.

"You don't have to answer that, just ignore me."

"No, it's not you," the oldest of the blondes says, "it's just it's still a fresh wound, you know? I don't even know why I keep this stupid ring on." She accepts the glass of water the waiter offers her, "to be honest, I just got out of an abusive relationship. I suppose it's true that daughters marry their fathers, huh?"

Emma shakes her head, ready to dispute that statement, but Sam waves her hand in the negative, not wishing to speak about it any further. Emma respects the plea for privacy, but finds herself saddened by how torn-apart they'd become.

They were such good friends. The best.

A moment of pause rains down upon them before Emma breaks the awkward silence, "so, still need a roommate?" She asks.

"You're asking that after 11 years?" Sam chuckles, leaning forward to flick Emma's forehead with her thumb and index.

"Has it been that long?" Emma counters, blowing through her soda's straw to ruin Sam's unusually vibrant hair, "and what's up with that gorgeous hair of yours? It's like you stole some greek goddess's hair and wore it as a wig!" And it's true. What once had been a tomboy's slash emo, spiky hair, is now replaced by shoulder-length, wavy flocks of beautiful blond.

"Ah, maybe it is a wig," she breathes out, reaching to pull at Sam's hair.

"It has been that long!" Sam shrieks, swatting away Emma's hand, "and stop that, you big baby! It's my real hair, I just had a lot of time to take care of myself lately. Conditioning and whatnot."

"Yeah, I won't believe that unless I feel it up with my own fingers."

A certain memory flashes through both their minds, and they find themselves looking straight into each other's eyes, both reliving the same old memory from a decade ago. Suddenly they're bending forward, and laughing their hearts out.

But not for long.

A clear of throat from behind Emma has them both quieting down, and settling back onto their chairs. A relaxed atmosphere looms between them, however, driving away all the tension that had been there when they first arrived.

That's better, Emma thinks, smiling broadly at Sam.

* * *

Regina lies in bed, staring at the ceiling and counting the grey tiles for the hundredth time that afternoon. Her right hand rests on her forehead, and she clutches at her necklace with her left. She finally has another goal other than providing help for the needy, and what does father Sebastian do? He scolds her for it.

Her lower lip juts out in defiance, completely refusing to see the 'bigger picture' as father put it. What bigger picture? Emma had been in need, so naturally and as a sister, Regina had to step in to help.

So what that she'd promised to be at the school to watch over the kids, but couldn't keep her promise.

So what that father had asked her if Emma's need for help had been urgent or not, and she'd completely evaded answering the question.

So what that sister Julie had to step in her stead and had looked after twice as many children, and as a result chaos broke throughout the school.

So what that after the fact, Regina still hadn't shown up at school, even though Emma had long gone home.

And she definitely hadn't been rebelling, breaking her vows, or straying from her chosen path. Father Sebastian is, without doubt, being too hard on her, she thinks.

She huffs out hot, and inhales cold air. The heater's been broken for a few weeks now, and Regina has no idea what to do about it. Father had warned her that leaving it on for more than eleven hours a day would render the device broken. But she didn't have a choice, now did she? The day it stopped working had been the same day a stray cat had been shivering to death outside on the footsteps of the church's back door.

Was she supposed to just leave the poor animal to her death?

The fact that visiting Gummy at the park, where she left her with the rest of the stray cats, makes her feel like she has some sort of family, Regina buries deep down within her soul, because in all honesty, admitting loneliness will only add to the bitterness it brings.

She rolls to her side then, and examines the necklace for the hundredth time that evening, as if by doing so, she's going to summon Emma like a genie by a some, hidden divine power. Regina chuckles at the image she pictures, and shakes her head in amusement as she closes her eyes for some much needed rest.

She wishes she had asked for the blonde's number, though. Then she wouldn't be stuck at this state of boredom that's very much new to her.

She wonders what the blonde woman is doing right now.

Wonders if she's thinking about her like she's thinking about Emma.

And maybe she is.

_The scene is far too familiar._

_The salty sweat against her cheek where skin meets leather._

_The lulling sound, playing at the back of her head as her whole body hums in response._

_Her cruel immobility at the face of danger._

_Her definite inability to scream out as she feels a smack colliding with her upper arm._

_Again, and then again._

_Her eyelids are heavy against her eyes. She tries to open them, but they're being pulled down by a force greater than her own willpower._

_She feels, rather than hears, a presence screaming at her some sort of command. She desperately wants to give him what he wants, but she finds she's not really present._

_A part of her is, but the bigger, the most important part is…lost._

_A slap to her cheek, makes her groan out, more in fear rather than agony._

_She's trying to open her eyes again, but she's miserably failing._

_Another smack, and this time she feels it hard against her strained skin._

_Regina opens her mouth to scream, but nothing comes out._

_Nothing ever does._

_Nothing but the loud silence of complete and utter helplessness._

A knock sounds on her door, jarring her back from dreamland. Regina wakes with a startle, straightening up almost instantly. She stares at the door for a few moments before she registers the sound.

"Come in," she says, "it's open."

Sister Julie walks inside, glancing right and left before closing the door behind her. She makes her way to Regina's bed, her tiny body contorting as she shuffles under her skirt, fishing for something.

"Look what I got," she tells Regina with her all-too proud voice.

Horror falls upon the brunette's face, "is that…?" she trails, unable to finish her question out of fear of conformation. But she's almost sure it is what she thinks it is, because father Sebastian and some of her sisters had went to a nearby elementary school to address such problem.

Sister Julie nods, "it's a joint!"

"No," Regina scolds as she angrily stands up, and soothes down the wrinkles on her veil. "Sister Julie," Regina beckons for the younger woman to sit down, while she hovers over her, "I know you're new to this. It's been what? Two weeks now? It's normal that you're having second thought. It's normal that you're facing temptations, and you're probably struggling to leave your old life behind, but this-"

"-Oh, please, Regina. You don't know what this feels like," she presses the joint to her nose, and sniffs, "father told me that you came to him without any memories of your past life. So you don't know that this will most likely make all your worries go away, and before you lie, I know that you have some right now."

"Praying will make all my worries go away," Regina counters in confusion.

"Look," the younger sister says, holding her hands up in the air in surrender, "I want to be a sister, but before I completely…uh, lets call it 'transform' into one, I'd like to say goodbye to my old life. The proper way," she tells Regina, "and I figured I'd share it with you since you look like you need it."

"Absolutely not!"

"You don't have to smoke it, I'll just leave it here," she says, leaving the joint inside Regina's bottom drawer of her nightstand.

"Don't!" Regina shrieks, not even wanting to touch the damn thing because it feels like she's touching sin itself. "I don't want that!"

"If you don't want it, then don't smoke it. I won't force you. Plus," sister Julie taunts with her brows, "someone's here to see you."

Regina's eyes widen in joy. There's only one person who would come to see her, and there's only one person she really wants to see.

* * *

"Hey," Emma says once Regina emerges from the front door of the church. She notes that the brunette is out of breath, but she figures the sister is working at the moment. Emma doesn't care, though. She wants to spend some time with Regina, so the needy are gonna have to wait, "wanna go for a walk?"

Regina smiles in response, and closes the door behind her as she saunters over to the blonde. She nods a couple of times, "which way?"

Emma smiles back, "flat surfaces please. No more hills." She chuckles then.

Regina chuckles back, and starts walking in a random direction, "I knew you weren't from around here."

"Is it that obvious?"

Regina hums, "it is."

"How so?" Emma asks, eying the hill to her left, and choosing to take a right.

Regina shrugs shyly, "I don't know. If you were living here, then don't you think we would've meet sooner. Somehow us meeting, feels a bit like…like fate."

"You know?" Regina looks up at the blonde from under her lashes, suddenly feeling too exposed. "I mean I lived this peaceful life, which don't get me wrong, I love it and I'm happy to help the needy and the unfortunate, but then you came for… I have your necklace, and you came looking for it?" She stammers out as she wraps her arms around her torso.

Emma stops on her tracks then, taken aback, because those words coming from those lips, and in such innocent voice, is a rare sight the blonde knows to be completely out of character. Or maybe not. She's not entirely sure.

"Not that my life is not peaceful right now with you in it, because it is, and I'm not even sure you're in my life," Regina adds, worry overtaking her features that she might have offended the other woman.

"It's not like you're making my life…well, not peaceful…it's that," she flails her arms around in the air, expecting Emma to understand, but the blonde looks at her, waiting for her to finish her ramblings.

It would be a lie if Emma said she isn't enjoying this. She raises her brows, and locks eyes with the brunette, expectedly awaiting for any sort of answer. When she sees Regina's vein pulsate on her forehead, she knows the older woman is probably fighting with herself not to burst out in anger.

But Emma wouldn't have it, "it's that?" She echoes Regina's earlier words.

Regina huffs out hot air, and rubs at her cold fingers. Even though it's 3 p.m, the sun is doing nothing to warm up the city. It's always the case with San Francisco, Regina thinks, that warmth is always there, but hidden away beyond the horizon by layers and layers of clouds. And if it's not clouds, it's the fog. And even when it's not the sea of smoke, it's the showers of rain and thunder.

If you want the warmth, she decides, you would have to look a bit harder.

Try a little harder.

With that thought, she takes a deep breath and looks up at Emma as she adjusts her veil, "I know we've only just met, but this," she gestures to her neck where Emma's necklace lays, "makes me feel like it's destiny that we met. That even though you're practically a complete stranger, to me, you…" she blushes then, "to me you feel like family, and to be honest," she looks up Emma, and relief washes over her that Emma looks like she's listening closely.

"Go on," the blonde says kindly.

"I could use a bit of family right now," Regina finishes with a sad smile.

Emma wants nothing but to surge forward, and wrap her arms around the brunette's body. She wants to give her comfort, and pull her to where the light lies; where Regina knows who she is, and knows not to over share. Where she knows that Emma and her meeting, is without doubt by design rather than chance, or even such a thing as fate.

Emma is grateful, though. She's grateful that Regina is finally letting out emotions that were once kept hidden deep down, away from enemies, away from her friends -if she had any- and away from herself.

When the blonde still remains quiet, Regina shakes her head, "I'm sorry," she says, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No," Emma smiles then, "you didn't scare me." She tells her, and starts walking again because if she doesn't, she doesn't know for how long she'd be able to hold back from pulling Regina into a hug.

"You didn't scare, me, Regina. Not at all," she looks back, and waits for Regina to catch up. "If we're being honest here, you feel like family, too."

"Like a sister that I never had," she grins smugly, "pun intended."

And there it is again, Regina's beautiful, breathtaking, completely and utterly overwhelming laughter. Emma opens her mouth to say something. Anything. But nothing comes out.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket, and she's thankful for the distraction. Any further than this, and she would have definitely done something that she would regret for as long as she lives.

"Oh, I need to get this," Emma tells the brunette. She wonders then if Regina ever regains back her memories, would she forgive her for her next words?

"It's my son."

Regina merely nods, "of course."

And Emma's hearts sinks even deeper. For the first time, she wishes for the fights. She wishes for the bickering, and the invading of personal space.

"Hey buddy, how'd it go with David? I mean grandpa." Emma asks, "didya tell him you'll be moving in with me and Sam?"

"Ma," is all Henry says, and somehow Emma gets that something is definitely up. While she's indeed his mother, he never called her by the title unless he needed something, or the world was turning upside down.

It's not that the word reminds them too much of Regina, because though it does, that isn't the only reason they don't use it. Mother and son just have this connection where they're most comfortable when she's simply Emma. The one he's able to tell anything. The one who's more like a friend than a mother, but the one he knows he'd be able to count on whenever things 'got shitty', as the blonde once put it.

"Henry, what happened?" She asks in alarm, and Regina looks at her with worried eyes like she wants to say something, but knows not to.

"It's grandma…I'm not even sure I can call her that, ma."

"What's wrong with grandma?"

"I talked to grandpa like you asked me to, and he said that it's probably for the best. That…That grandma is not herself at the moment, and so it's not safe for me to be here."

Emma sighs then. Never in the past two years had David once admitted that Mary Margaret was anyone but the precious Snow he'd fallen in love with, even though she'd been slowly, but clearly transforming into someone quite different.

Someone darker, and much more vindictive.

"I'll come get you as soon as I can, Henry," she tells him, suddenly feeling too guilty for ever leaving him there in the first place.

"Ma," he says again, and she knows she won't like what's coming next.

"What happened?"

"It's grandma, she over heard me and grandpa talking and so she said she'd make sure I didn't leave her sight. That she would do anything in her power to keep me in Storybrooke because that means bringing you back," he tells her, and Emma knows the teenager is holding back his tears, "and so I sort've panicked. I waited until they left for the station, and…I-I sneaked out."

"What? Where are you now?"

He breaks down in tears then, "ma, I…I…"

"Where are you, Henry?" She asks like she's not thousands of miles away from him. Like he'd tell her where he is, and she'd disappear in a puff of smoke and reappear next to him.

"I'm…I'm walking away from Storybrooke right now."

"Henry-"

"-It turns out, ma, that grandma stole mom's magic."

"What?"

"She's evil, ma. She's the evil queen now."

* * *

A/N: Hello, all. Thank you so much for your reviews, they really helped me with the planning for this fic. If you guys have any more to say, please don't hesitate. Lastly, I would like to mention that Regina is not a nun, she's a sister. There's a difference, which I will be mentioning in the next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owner.

**A/N:** Hello everyone. It's Lady Stranger this time, don't worry Jay is too afraid to come back. ^^ So I have returned from the dead -hehe, that sounded lame- to let you guys know how much I love you for waiting for me and for your wishes and prayers. I have no clue how I survived this, but it seems that I'll live to fight another battle. From now on, all reviews will be answered again since I have connection in my house (or will have in a few days) and also, because you guys are so lovely, send me prompts and I will write a one-shot as a thank you for my awesome readers. Special thanks to (Anonymous guests, 123, xnbuffy, Annitah -awesome name btw-, , imnotreallyahipster -hehe, I'm not a hipster, too-, Ava1980, jessie901121, XanDany, Chikiko, missconflicted-t, and LOCISVU) for leaving a review.

As for the anonymous guest asking if you were lesbian or not, I really am no expert but if you want then please PM me and I will listen to anything you have to say. Maybe we can sort it out.

**About this chapter:** both sisters and nuns are called sisters, but when someone is called 'mother', it is always a nun. Also, 'mothers' are usually older and high ranked. Don't worry about all the extra characters, they come and go because that's one of the things I first experienced when I briefly lived in SF. I met a lot of people. And a heads up from now for a trigger warning. Mention of violence and abuse is to come in the next chapters.

Lastly, I really am sorry for this mess but I will try my best to finish all the stories that I have started.

Thank you.

* * *

Sister

4

Henry Mills leads his life with a tad of skepticism nowadays. These past two years has added to his life-span more than a few months of mere time, but a great bundle of wisdom; the kind that would not be normally obtained without a few strikes here and there. The first strike being his mom accidentally killing him with poison that was meant for his other mom, and the hundredth strike being that same mother disappearing from his life without a trace; like she'd completely given up on him.

He somehow knew that wasn't the case, he knew she would never leave him; not willingly, at least, but the shock of waking up one day to find Regina wasn't there, well, he had no choice but to allow the hurt to claim him, clouding his judgement in the process, and rendering him bitter.

But now, now he's standing before his grandparents, watching them as they continue to fight, continue to yell at one another. Snow insisting to keep him, like he's some sort of object, and Charming gently, very gently telling his wife to stay out of it; and that it isn't really her choice to make.

When the tension rises, and Henry could tell it's best to walk away immediately, he does just that. He pads up the stairs to his mother's room where he'd been sleeping for the past few days, and closes the door behind him but not without hearing his grandmother shout her threats to keep him within the town limits if that's what it takes to bring Emma back.

In a moment of panic, he all but sprints to where he'd left his phone, and clicks on Emma's number. It goes straight to voice mail, and he painfully remembers that with the time difference, the sun wouldn't be up where Emma is till a few more hours. He sighs then, and glances around the room for any sort of solution.

There isn't. How could there be?

From the way his grandparents voices raise in volume, he knows it will be a while till he's able to go to school, or just outside the apartment. So he does the only thing he's able to do, and waits until the sounds quiet down enough for him to investigate.

By the time they do, it's nearly 11 a.m, and his stomach is protesting with hunger. He ignores it for the time being, because a meal can wait and his freedom can't. He peeks his head outside Emma's bedroom door, straining his senses to listen to his grandparents. He can tell David is still there, but Snow's not within his sight, and she's definitely not yelling anymore.

"Grandpa?" Henry whispers, tiptoeing down the stairs. He has his backpack on, and his phone, wallet, and passport in pocket. If he learned anything from his adventure to Boston, it's to be prepared for the worst case scenario, and worst case scenario, he would have to leave Storybrooke to fetch his Ma again. Both of them.

Deja vu.

"Grandpa?" He calls once more, walking over to the kitchen area. David's on the phone, eyebrows knitted together and he seems to be listening to someone speaking on the other end of the line.

"I can't leave. Snow wants me to keep an eye on Henry," David suddenly says, unbeknownst to Henry's presence in the room. "Well, if she does have access to Regina's magic, would she be able to use it? She's not a natural like Emma, and she certainly didn't make a deal with Gold like Regina."

"Yeah, but what could she do with it? It's not like she can cross the town line and march to San Francisco, and though the town has been out of control lately, she wouldn't use it on…well, on us, would she?"

"Okay, I'll make sure Henry's in his room, and then I'll come over. Tell Blue to be there as well."

Henry immediately runs up the stairs as softly as he can, and walks inside his mom's room that he had luckily left open. He drops his bag under the bed, takes off his shoes, and lies under the covers; waiting for David to make an appearance.

"Henry?" David knocks on the door, "you sleeping?"

No answer.

"Buddy?" He says, and Henry wants to jump up and teach his grandpa a lesson not to use that nickname with him. It is personally preserved for one Emma Swan, whom Henry is learning to appreciate by the second.

No answer.

"Sorry, buddy. I guess we wore you out, huh?" David closes the door, and in a few minutes, Henry hears the loud thud of the apartment's door being closed.

"Time to go," he murmurs to himself, retrieving his backpack, and putting on his shoes once more.

* * *

Snow's standing in front of Town Hall when David arrives there along side Blue. His wife is making a speech to a group of townsmen, and from the looks of it, it's a speech about 'borrowing' Regina's magic.

"Oh, good. Your king is here." She motions to David, and he cringes because that's not what she used to address him by. While he is considered royalty -barely, really- it had never crossed his mind that he was above any of the people of his kingdom.

"What's going on here?" He asks, eyeing the overly enthusiastic crowd.

"Well," Ruby says warily, "your queen here wants to use Regina's magic to try and break the remains of the curse once and for all." By her tone, David knows that Ruby thinks Snow's idea is as crazy as it sounds; not to mention that it's practically evil. Something Gold, or perhaps even Regina would do.

But because she's Snow White; the woman he had fallen in love with, he has to be on her side no matter what the outcomes are. Also, he's a little bit afraid. Well, more than a little. "How would you do that? Regina's the only one who can control her magic."

Snow smirks then, fishing through her purse. "With this?" She takes out the trigger device, the one that had nearly destroyed their town, and shows it to the crowd. Her smirk grows more evil as she hears cheerful enthusiasm, and there's a twinkle in her eyes that David wishes he'd never seen there.

"Is that…?" is all he could say.

"Yup! The one and only." Ruby replies in a chipper voice, holding up her thumb and pinky to her eyes, and mouthing 'we need to talk' over to David.

David nods once, knowing what Ruby has in mind, and appreciating the fact that the brunette didn't abandon his wife like their daughter had because they may have their many, many differences, but that's never a reason to cut off family; and from their point of view, that's exactly what Emma did, and very easily, too.

* * *

"Is everything okay?" Regina finally asks, dusting off the chair next to Emma's, and gently sitting down on it. Once Emma ended the call with her son, they'd walked back to her and Sam's place to use the computer. Well, Emma walked while Regina followed, really. There wasn't an invitation, but the silent agreement that Regina is welcome had been there.

Regina looks from the screen over to her surroundings. While the place looked perfectly clean to normal people such as Emma and Sam and to the rest of the universe, Regina found the place dirtier than a 1920 chicken barn on a rainy day; or at least just as dirty. One thing she could not take, though, was the smell that lingered in the air from all the uncleaned dishes sitting in the sink. So when Emma doesn't reply to her right away, Regina slowly finds her way to the sink, and makes herself useful.

Emma taps on the keyboard with fervor, cussing when she gets a letter wrong. She'd told Henry she'd call him back after she sorted things out. First thing she did, was log into her bank account. She lets a sigh of relief to find that she has enough for a plane ticket. She wishes she has more so she could go and get Henry in person, but beggars can't be choosers, and right now she's definitely bordering on being a beggar.

Secondly, she goes on the airline site, and books Henry a flight from Boston to San Francisco, with one connection flight in between. Then she remembers that he would need a bus ticket to get to Boston. She takes out her phone then and txts him: "Is it safe if I call? Anyone around you?"

A few seconds later, Henry txts back: "I don't think so, but I'm still just a few miles away from Storybrooke…so maybe."

Emma bites on her lower lip, she hates that her damn parents are putting Henry and she through this. When will she ever catch a break!

"Do you have money on you? I bought you a ticket to SF, but I don't think I can buy you the bus ticket to Boston."

"…umm, I have Mom's credit card."

"What? Henry, your mom would be so mad…"

"Well, she left! And when those thieves broke into our house, I thought at least I should save some of the money for when she gets home."

"Did you buy anything with it?"

"Ah..um, maybe?"

"Henry…"

"Look, I was younger then, and plus, it's going to save my life now. So you should be telling me what a good job I did."

"Not happening, kid. We'll talk about stealing your mom's stuff later, now you need to get on that bus and go to Boston. Your flight leaves in about 8 hours."

"Okay, but the bus won't be here for 2 more hours."

"Alright…just stay at the bus station, and don't talk to any strangers. And Henry…"

"Yeah, ma?"

"Please…_please _try to stay safe."

" :) I will. Love you ma!"

Emma smiles at her son's soft side she rarely gets to see these days. Henry being almost fourteen; a teenage with plenty of influences to tear down his gentleness, but somehow the young boy is still the same nice, little kid she'd met a few years ago. But also, he's so much better.

Regina smiles from where she stands, continuing to rinse the dishes. A door being opened has her head snapping to the sound's source. At first, she'd thought perhaps Emma had left, but she watches as a pregnant blonde woman makes her way to Emma, and leans down to whisper her next words: "Hey, Emma...umm, do you know there's a nun here doing our dishes?"

Regina raises a brow.

"No offense."

"Plenty taken," Regina says, turning off the tap and drying her hands with some paper towel. A few dirty dishes remain in the sink.

"Did God send you to do our dishes?" Sam asks, studying the brunette as she shrugs off her jacket, revealing cutoffs and a blue sweater covering most of her shorts. She doesn't like nuns because she knows they don't like her. She thinks maybe she shouldn't be so hostile, but she doesn't care enough to hide her distaste. When she looks at a nun, all she sees is judgement and years of mental manipulation into making her think she's someone that she's clearly not.

She shouldn't. She knows she shouldn't because that's one of the things father Sebastian taught her not to do. Plenty of times she'd gotten into trouble, and plenty of times she had to pay a price; meaning more hours working with the troubled teens at the community college. Regina bites on the inside of her cheeks, but even that doesn't stop her from blurting out: "He did send me actually, and he also sent me to tell you that its coming for you soon."

Sam looks taken a back for a moment but recovers soon, taking the bait almost instantly, "and what is coming for me exactly?" She asks with a sneer and a sarcastic tone.

"Adulthood," Regina simply says, an almost-not-there grin decorating her face, before she waltz over to Emma and sits back down. "Everything set?"

"Huh?" Emma says absentmindedly, "Uh...no, not yet. I'm waiting for a call from Henry. He said he'd call me when he gets on the bus."

"Oh, Henry's coming over today?" Sam asks. She'd known he was coming, but Emma had said he'd be arriving in a week or two.

"Yeah, uh...he's too excited to just wait till the end of the month." She looks up at her friend, "I hope that's okay. That he's coming over sooner than expected I mean."

"Of course!" Sam reassures, "I can't wait to meet him. Last I saw him, he was doing flips inside your stomach." She laughs then, stopping when she find Regina laughing as well, and it's one of those moments that you know you're acting childish but you can't help it. Looking back at Emma, "do we have pie?" She suddenly asks, "I'm craving pie."

"I don't think we do, but there's some cake in the fridge."Emma says.

"No, I have a strange feeling that this demon wants pie," the older blonde pats her tummy, walking over to the fridge. "Tomorrow after your shift can you get me some?"

"Uh, I don't know..Tomorrow I have to pick up Henry, but I suppose I could get some from that diner closest to the airport."

"Ugh! Please don't. I found a bug in their food once and-"

"-I can make you pie," Regina blurts out, surprising even herself. Truth be told, she has no idea if she can make pie or not. There's this stinging feeling that she can, but how would she know? It's not like she spent her time at the church's tiny kitchen, making sure she can actually make a meal.

Sam gives her a look, "sorry, didn't mean to intrude." Glancing at Emma, "I should go...I will see you later, Emma, and please know that I will pray for Henry's safe arrival."

Regina doesn't give Emma a chance to reply and heads for the door. The blonde follows her, blocking the exit with her whole body. "Wait," she tells her. "Sam might not want to eat your pie, but I do...uhh...I mean your apple pie, not your.."

Sam all but explodes into laughter; face going red and back hunched forward. Regina looks at her like the blonde has two heads for a moment, but soon dismisses Sam and turns to face a blushing Emma. "Let me use your kitchen then. The one at home is too small and the appliances are questionable at best."

Emma nods, "and the ingredients? Anything I should bring?" She says, opening the door and stepping out with Regina in tow.

"No...nothing in particular, just bring yourself, Emma." Regina smiles, inching closer and standing in the blonde's personal space like she did so many times before. Only this time, Emma doesn't get the urge to lock horns with Regina, she's feeling a different kind of urge. One she doesn't want to over-think at the moment. And from the looks of it, Regina's feeling something, too. Whether it's the same feeling or not is up for debate.

She doesn't know how much time passes before either one of them speak, but Emma is almost sure it's well over a few minutes. Looking away for a moment, Emma is sure Regina's...she's blushing. But then she's looking at her again, her face normal once more, and the brunette's lips are moving. Emma's mind is too occupied with Regina's smile to catch what the other woman is saying, but when the beautiful sister walks away, Emma waves her goodbye anyway.

"Is that okay?" Sam asks, her arms crossed over her body and she waits for Emma to close the door. "I mean what do you really know about this woman?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That 'nun'...you invited her over to meet your son."

_Actually it sounded like you asked her out._

"What? ...no I didn't invite her." Because that would be a stupid idea. Henry's not yet ready for this, and she reckons that Regina doesn't have any interest in meeting a young teen just because she...well, just for the sake of meeting a teenage boy. On second thought, Emma herself is not sure if she's ready yet.

Sam studies Emma for a few seconds, then walks over to her friend. She presses the back of her hand to Emma's forehead. "You have a slight fever, come sit down." She walks over to the sink, grabs a glass and finishes rinsing what Regina had started because it's much easier to finish something someone else had already started. Pouring the blonde some water, and fetching some Tylenol,"here, drink this," Sam says. "You don't want to get sick when your son is arriving tomorrow. That's a shitty way to meet him."

"I'm not sick," Emma says, but accepts the water anyway. She does feel a bit...'heated' but that's completely irrelevant to getting sick. She just got caught up in the moment, that's all. "She's making pie, Sam, I didn't invite her to meet Henry, and it's not like we're dating or something."

Sam lets the dating comment slide because she doesn't want to get into other people's business, but she would gladly offer advice when she sees fit and right now Emma needs an eye opener. "Well, that's not what you said."

Emma raises a brow, "umm...what did I say?"

"I didn't hear the whole thing, but it was like 'something something...Henry's dying to see you' and then she was like 'okay, I'll come over early tomorrow night to make that pie, and I can meet him then ' and then she was gone."

* * *

Regina returns to the church around 3 p.m, and finds father Sebastian waiting for her. She doesn't understand what she did wrong. She's a sister, not a nun, and a sister is allowed to leave the convent. Heck, if she wanted to leave and get her own place, she can. It's true that the church had harbored her for the past two years without any questions asked, but it's a debt that's well paid back.

"Father," Regina greets with a respectable nod, and moving to walk past the man standing in front of her.

"Sister," father says. "Where were you?"

Regina closes her eyes, gritting her teeth for a moment before answering, "I was out." She looks at him then, and adds, "to meet up with a friend that needed my help."

Father nods knowingly, "the same friend from before?"

She doesn't know why, but suddenly she feels like a teenager who's caught sneaking out late at night, and is trying to cover everything with lies even though the truth wouldn't have hurt as much as the lie did. "No, it's someone else..."

"Oh, I see. What's your friend's name?" Father asks, not liking that Regina's lying to him. Not liking where Regina's path is leading her, and not liking that she doesn't seem to notice what's happening to her; or perhaps she doesn't want to notice, he concludes.

But above all, he doesn't like how obsessive and overprotective she forces him to become.

"Kathryn," Regina says the first name that pops into her mind, and she wonders if she ever met a Kathryn in her life before the amnesia. The name sounds familiar.

"Well, tell Miss Kathryn that I'd be happy to help her if she ever needed help again. And speaking of help, mother Andrea is ill with the flu, and she needs you to cover for her tonight at six."

And because it's too uncomfortable to stand there, and too dangerous to object, Regina nods, "yes father." She says, retreating to her room.

* * *

It's that awful dream again, or it might be a nightmare, Regina doesn't know the difference; all she's ever known is this sorry excuse of a dream. It feels like watching one channel for the rest of your life, and she wishes she knew how to make it stop. Turn it off completely. A black screen is better than this.

_He's yelling at her again, but she still can't hear him._

_Everything is spinning; but nothing is spinning more than her head._

_She feels like a child who's riding Hatter's Teacups at full speed._

_"Slow down," she wants to say, "I can't understand what you're saying," but the words don't come out._

_Nothing ever does._

_And he's yelling again. She can feel him near her ear, commanding._

_She groans, and he smacks her arm in response._

_She groans again, and another smack._

_"Plea...sse," she finally manages to moan out._

_And then he's laughing. He's laughing at her, and he's laughing at her begging._

_And just like that, whatever pain she's been feeling is placed in a box for later assessment, and in its place anger spreads and sprouts in rapid speed. It is so intense, Regina can almost taste it in her mouth._

_"Please?" He says in mockery, and Regina hears him well. While pain dulled her senses, anger sharpened them to their full potential. "Imagine that.. the evil queen begging one of her servants."_

* * *

"Emma?" Sam enters the living room later that night, finding her roommate sprawled all over the couch with the t.v screen beaming. "Honey?" She sits on the edge of the couch, gently waking up the blonde.

"Why don't you go to bed, and I'll wait by the phone." When Emma groans out in protest, Sam shakes her head. "I promise if he calls, I will let you know right away, sweetie. But you can't do this...you have a long day tomorrow and you need your rest."

"Henry," Emma offers in explanation. "I need...to keep him...safe."

"I know, honey. I know. But beating yourself over something you didn't do-"

"-No! It was my job...to keep him safe. It is my job." She opens her puffy eyes then, wincing at the pain. Perhaps she shouldn't have cried herself to sleep. "...Regina would beat me anyway if something happened to him..."

"His adoptive mother?"

Emma nods.

"I'm sure she won't. It's not your fault your mom is so controlling. I don't know much about your situation, but maybe you two can work together to manage your mother. It sounds like this Regina just as protective of Henry as you are."

"More...she's way...waaaay more protective."

"Must be nice..having two mothers that care so much about their child."

"Yeah..." Emma says, fighting back her tears. She should be stronger than this, and she hates that she's not. But with everything happening, every little emotion that she'd put aside, came crashing back at the prospect of losing her son. Honestly, sometimes Henry doesn't know how much he's loved. He's practically the center of every agreement and disagreement alike.

"Don't worry too much. You told me how strong Henry is and if you ask me, he takes after you in that. Just believe in him and go get some sleep before I force you under the shower. You smell like feet."

Emma manages a sincere chuckle at that before she gets up to lie in her bed. "Alright, I get it already. Just please keep an eye on my phone and when Henry calls, answer first then wake me up."

"Sure thing!"

* * *

"Why on earth is mother Andrea tasked with repainting over graffiti this late at night? She's what? 77?"

"Again, sister, mother Andrea volunteered to work with these children. She's been working with them for quite some time. You don't actually have to do the labor work, just instruct, lead, and manage."

"You make it sound so easy. These 'children' are teens and 20 year olds. Will they even listen to me, and I'm not-"

"-Yes you can," Barry, the manager of the volunteer group, urgently presses on. "I have faith in you, sister. You can do it!" He hands over the chart, and sprints off. It's not his job to manage nuns, it's his job to get the children from point A to point B, while maintaining their number and health.

"Great," Regina murmurs, but shakes her head to shake away the negativity. Ever since she tasted real freedom, she can't help but feel...

"Aaah!" Regina exclaims at her train of thoughts. She signed up for this. She wants to help, she wants to be a sister. With one last sigh, she walks over to the group of children, and starts 'managing' them.

The night is long and incredibly tiring, but when they stood back to watch their work, a sense of fulfillment washes over them and it feels good. It feels really good, but not good enough for a repeat.

By the time she's done with the repaint, sending the volunteers off and signing the papers, the hour is too late for her to catch the bus. One of the volunteers, a young woman named Alex, offers Regina a ride home and Regina accepts. Alex is polite and quite nice; but Regina is still a bit wary. She's never trusted a complete stranger before.

Well, she did trust Emma, and Emma is a complete stranger, too. Not only that, but she's a stranger that seems to know a bit too much about Regina. But are they really strangers? After all, she did have Emma's locket with her when they found her. When father Sebastian found her.

When father Sebastian found her that night.

She was...she was walking around aimlessly, and had stumbled upon the church.

And it was father Sebastian that found her, wasn't he?

_Father Sebastian...found me? _

"Sister?" Alex says, "are you okay? You've been spacing for a while now."

"Huh?" Regina says, realizing that they'd been parked in front of the church, the engine turned off to not bother the neighborhood. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit tired." She turns to face the young woman, "thank you, Alex."

"You're welcome, sister."

Regina opens the passenger seat, and exits the vehicle. Before she takes a step further towards the church, she turns around and pops her head inside the open window, "Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Well...this might sound weird coming from a sister since I'm supposed to be the one offering answers, but mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure..go ahead."

"I was wondering how one would go about remembering things that have been forgotten for years now. I've been having a reoccurring dream...but it doesn't feel like a dream, it strike me a vision from my past, perhaps."

"I see...well, you can go to therapy," Alex starts, "but there are also hypnotherapy and meditation. I know someone that had tried most of these methods before, and if you want, I will get you their number."

"That would be lovely, thank you, Alex."

"Don't mention it."

Regina nods, and moves to walk away but she pops her head inside once more. "Oh, one more thing.."

"Yeah?"

"When someone tells you that you're so beautiful that it hurts to look at and then they invite you to dinner to meet their child, what does that mean?"

"Uh..well, sister, it sounds like someone's hitting on you." Alex says awkwardly.

"Huh!? What? No!" Regina shakes her head. Emma's a woman, and a woman wouldn't hit on her. At least not Emma. Her Emma is pure and-

"Well, it's either that or they're jealous. But why would they ask you out if they're jealous, and also normally people hide their jealousy."

_Ask me out? Emma did? No way._ Regina thinks about it for a few moments before reprimanding herself for opening the subject altogether. It all sounds very silly. And then Regina remembers that this is how the devil works. It all starts by questioning. And she should never question things that should be left alone.

She makes a mental note to pray for forgiveness as she says goodbye to Alex, but once she walks inside her room, she takes out the locket from underneath her clothes, and stares at it until she's fallen into deep sleep; her prayers long forgotten along with her purpose to seek redemption.

Redemption for things she doesn't even know if she did or not.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owner.

**A/N: Please review. I write better when I know if I'm doing something wrong or right. **

**AlexandriaVE:** Actually, there's a story behind how Henry got to San Fran. It will be discussed in the next chapter. It's a bit silly, but it will show how clever Henry really is.

**Annitah:** Thank you, and Jay is actually a guy. xD he says he can't take the criticism. lol...

**SkinnyEllie:** I actually laughed so hard at that part. I was imagining the whole scene in my head, and the idea that Regina's standing there, doing the dishes...in her veil and nun-outfit..it's just too absurd. xD

**ghostperfect:** Next chapter she will meet Henry. :D

**Sunrondelay200:** Thank you so much.. T-T You made me happy.

**Mamawolf2 and iamnotreallyahipster**: thank you :)

**fledge:** Thank you so much for your comment. I will let you know, I now have a big head and my confidence is rising because of you. xD Hehe...well, maybe just a little.

**Guest reviewers,** thank you. Also..if you leave a prompt, please leave your name so I can give you credit. I got 2 already and both are pretty awesome.

* * *

Sister

5

Emma's on her feet again. It's been an hour since she arrived at the airport and discovered that Henry's flight had been announced late. She's hungry, having missed lunch, and her feet are sore from all the pacing. If she could calm down for a moment, though, she would know that there's nothing unusual about a flight being late. In fact, it's unusual if it had landed on time. But she can't help it. Her mind can't help but wander to the worst case scenarios; like maybe they ran out of fuel midair and had to do an emergency landing on the atlantic ocean, and somehow the passengers are forced to swim to an unknown, deserted island where they end up killing each other-

"Ma'am, please sit down you're disturbing the others. And if possible, please stop watching too much T.V. Thank you. " one of United airline's worker, Micah, instructs Emma.

"But you didn't answer my question."

"Please tell me you're not serious," Micah says, smiling at another customer and receiving their passport. He looks up at Emma then, "oh, you are serious."

"Tell me it didn't happen before?"

Micah sighs, "ma'am, the departure city is Los Angeles. You see how it's impossible to land on the ocean?"

Before Emma could annoy Micah any further, the sign on the electronic board turns from delayed to landed. Finding her way to the gate just a few steps away, she waits for a few minutes before Henry emerges along with the other passengers.

"Ma," He exclaims, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Henry," Emma breathes out, "I was so worried about you!" She says, breaking the hug and inspecting her son for any possible damage.

"I'm okay, Emma. Really," he tells her, and because she still has that worried look on her face, he leans down and plants a kiss on her cheek. When she smiles a watery smile at him, "God, Ma! Don't embarrass me," he grips on her forearm and drags her all the way to the exit.

The fact she cried all the way to her car, Henry did his best to ignore but could not help but feel him mother's warmth and love.

* * *

"Holy shit!" Sam says as mother and son walk through the door. "You guys look alike."

"What the hell, Sam?" Emma counters.

"Oh, shush. Like you're better than me," the older blonde moves closer to Henry, studying her friend's son. "I'm Samantha," she says, shaking Henry's hand.

"Henry," he says, "thank you for taking in my mother, and sorry if she ate all your food." He bows his head then and Emma smacks him on the back of his neck.

"You brat, you think you get to talk to me like that," she says, ruffling his hair. It's been so long since he'd let her do that, she takes a few more moments to savor the feeling of his curls on her fingers.

Sam laughs, and Henry avoids his mother's kicks, walking over to the couch and slumping down. It'd been a long couple of days, and the journey to San Francisco had offered him no rest. But what most kept his mind on edge, is the prospect of meeting his adoptive mother for the first time in two years. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been unconscious after saving their town from the device.

"I got you this," Emma interrupts Henry's thoughts, handing him three store bags and a small box of donuts. "We can go get you a tooth brush and underwear after you rest, or if you want I could go get it myself and you can sleep in till dinner."

"I'd like that," the teen says, placing the box on the coffee table and the bags next to the couch on the floor. He takes off his jacket and shoes, and lies back down. "When do I get to see mom?"

"She's right here," Sam says, and Emma shakes her head. But really who would blame her. There's no way Sam would guess that Henry's adoptive mom is the evil queen, and Emma is the savior, whose mom and dad are Snow White and Prince Charming and they live in a town with Storybook characters and...so on, and so on.

Actually, no one would guess that.

"Soon," Emma says, walking over to the couch and handing Henry a blanket. "Get some rest, and we'll talk when you wake up." She doesn't tell him he'll be meeting his mom in exactly three hours, and she figures that's enough time for him to recharge a bit. Telling him would just keep him up.

Henry nods in agreement, and it doesn't take long before Emma and Sam could hear his soft snores. His mother wonders what kind of pain he's feeling right now. He may act like an adult, but Emma realizes all too well the disadvantages of growing up so fast.

* * *

"So...his adoptive mother has a place of her own, or is it a complete Swan-family invasion?" They're walking down the hill to the nearest mall, and Sam can't help but ask since they don't actually have enough room for a third person in the house. While the two story house is vast enough to host three bedrooms, the only other available room for Regina would be the play-slash-gym -she'd made for herself but had never used- but she will use it. Not now. She's pregnant now, but soon.

Emma laughs.

"I'm serious," Sam tells her, and she is serious. No one likes to be a third wheel, which she assumes she will be, and she'd be right in thinking that.

"What, no. Regina's not gonna move in with us. Plus, she's not a Swan, and neither is Henry."

"Oh, really? I thought you said he was yours now."

"Temporarily mine."

"What do you mean by that?" Sam asks, turning to her left and walking through a narrow path. Emma gives her a questioning look, "a shortcut," she explains, dragging Emma along.

"What do you mean temporarily? Are you gonna like...hand him over to her when you see her?"

Emma smiles, "no, I didn't mean it that way. It's just there's this situation...and uh...well, I don't know if when things get resolved if Regina will let me keep him at my house. She is, after all, his legal guardian."

"What situation?"

Emma shakes her head.

"What situation, Emma? You can't just not tell me, we're roommates now and I'm having so much fun already, I don't want you to leave just yet. And you know, I feel like you're gonna leave as soon as I get too conformable around you."

"I won't," Emma says, pushing at the mall's main entrance, allowing Sam to walk in first, to which Sam actually blushes in appreciation.

"Yes you will. In a few weeks, I'm gonna be in my shorts with my unshaved legs and the baby would be fussing over nothing and then I'll find out that you don't wanna be roommates anymore."

"Won't happen, I told you I'm staying for six months to figure things out. I won't leave a day early, and I won't leave a day later."

"So I have you for 6 months?"

"Yep," Emma says, pointing to the elevator and again, Sam is impressed that Emma remembered she doesn't like escalators and has a weird phobia of them. "We can get the underwear from the second floor, then we'll pass by the pharmacy on the way out. And I also need something for myself."

"What do you need?"

* * *

It takes almost 3 hours to get everything they need, and they're exhausted by the time they're on the bus home. It's nearly four thirty, but all Emma wants to do is lie in bed and sleep for 12 hours straight. It might sound like she's trying to make an excuse as to not have a family dinner with Regina -former evil queen, currently a sister-, and she is in fact making excuses but...but she's...well, she's allowed to make excuses because when they get home, Regina's already waiting for them by the door.

"I rang the bell, but no one answered. I hope you don't mind that I'm a bit early." Regina says shyly. "Are you guys busy? If you are busy, I can go and come back later when you're not...as..as busy as you are now." Regina shakes her head, blushing furiously at how desperate she sounded. She might have been a tad too excited for tonight. In fact, she'd been a tad too excited that she had to pressure sister Julie -something she's not proud of doing- to take her place in repainting over graffiti once more; that mother Andrea sure made Regina's black list. And in return, there's a good chance Regina's about to make father Sebastian's list.

"As a matter a fact, yes we are. Henry's already here and he's gonna meet his other mother today. So you can understand how it's overcrowded it's gonna be."

"Oh," Regina says, looking down at her feet. "I'll leave you be then-"

"No, wait, please come in," Emma tells her, giving Sam a look that says eat-shit. She walks past her friend, jams the key in the door and unlocks it in a hurry, not wanting Regina to walk away, "after you."

Regina smiles, "thank you," she says, walking inside the house. She doesn't understand herself quite well at the moment. It feels as if she's a different person, having an outer body experience. This woman who was dismissed just now, but stuck around nonetheless because she feels a strong connection with a complete stranger, that woman is not her. Or at least she's not the sister she is right now.

She sighs, "I thought you were Henry's mom," Regina turns to face the blonde, and fiddles with her hands because more and more, she's finding she doesn't know what to do with them.

"I am," Emma looks down for a second then meets Regina's eyes, "but he has another mother." Someone, and when I left him, took care of him since he was mere weeks old, Emma wants to say, and someone who had sacrificed themselves in order to save said child.

And while she might not be the purest of them all, she is the most impressive mother Emma had ever seen, and it is then she realizes how lucky Henry really was, and still is, to have Regina as his mother and protector.

"He's gonna meet her tonight, very soon, actually," Emma finishes, waiting for the brunette's reply.

And Regina panics. She can actually feel her soul, while it had been hovering somewhere outside her body, slam back right inside her and shake her to her core. Suddenly, Alex's words are echoing in her head, and she doesn't know what to make of them.

Maybe Emma is gay, and it just never really came up, and why would it come up? They don't know each other. But then again, why would Emma be hitting on her when she already has a partner. Is she a cheater? Does she want her to be her secret affair? She will never agree to that. Regina is no one's secret affair. She's never the other woman. If she were to be in a relationship, she would be the only one, and her partner would be the only one for her.

Not her 'partner' as in a woman, but a man. She likes men. She's a normal woman, living a normal life, with her perfectly normal urges. To think that Emma had thought she would go for her...the nerve. Such preposterous speculation not only defaming but is quite belittling of the blonde herself.

Regina gasps then with an audible voice, realizing where her mind had led her.

"Are you okay?" Emma says, walking closer to the brunette. "You're sweating so much and you look really scared."

As if her mask had been regenerated, and placed back upon her like some sort of body-lengthed trench coat. "I...uh...," Regina starts, but doesn't know what to say. She wants to leave, but she really doesn't want to; because if she did, then there's a good chance that she won't come back again. How would she come back when this house is filled with sins and sinners. And if there's one thing she knows about herself, even with the amnesia, she is definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent... not a sinner.

"Why don't you sit down, Regina, and I'll get you a glass of water." Emma moves to the kitchen, and Sam blinks a few times before following her friend and whispering in her ear:

"Regina? The Regina? Henry's mother? Oh my god, Emma, Is she Henry's mother?"

In the meantime, Regina snaps out of it with another gasp, and begins praying where she stands. Once she's done with the body cross, she presses her palms together, her small cross trapped in between, and begins a whispered prayer:

"Heavenly father, please forgive me for I have sinned. I admit I let my mind be contaminated with such filth. I am devoted to you, my lord-"

"Here you go," Emma says, and Regina snaps her head up. "Here's some pain reliever if you're not feeling well...but you know I think I should take you to the emergency room, you look really sick."

Regina looks at the glass of water, then back at Emma. Back and forth, back and forth and then accepts the glass. She drinks half of it, then hands the glass back to Emma. "Thank you," she says, "are you gay?"

Emma's eyes widen, and Sam can feel her baby do a flip inside her tummy. "I'm sorry?" Emma says, glancing at Sam, then settling her eyes on Regina.

"Do you perform illicit sexual acts with another person of your same-"

"No," Emma grits out, and she understands that Regina's not the same person anymore, but she can't help her next words. She has always been a free soul, "but what if I were? Huh, Regina? Would you leave and never speak to me again? Am I not worthy of your-"

"So you're not," Regina whispers to herself, and she doesn't know if she's disappointed or glad. But she is irritated by all of it, and she feels stupid for asking what she asked. Everything was going smoothly, and now she messed up her whole friendship with Emma. "But you said his other mother-"

"His adoptive mother, which reminds me...I did have Henry out of wedlock, if you're interested, I will tell you exactly how. Tell me, is that something that would make you annihilate me, sister?" Emma's just asking for it now. Her defensiveness kicking in at full force, and there isn't a thing that will stop her.

Regina glares at Emma, but looks down at her feet, taking deep breaths. She's been trained to be civil with everyone outside the church, but to be cooking for sinners and having dinner with them, is another story. She can't do that, and not when her belief is quite literally shattering with each moment she spends around the blonde. If I don't have my belief, then what else would I have? Regina reminds herself.

"Annihilate is not the word I would use..."

"What word would you use, then?" Emma pushes, "tell me what-"

"Enough," Sam says, yanking at her friend's arm and dragging her away from the brunette. "If you don't mind, Regina, you can go ahead and start making the pie. Me and this one," she motions to Emma, "will go and see if Henry's awake."

"But," Regina starts but the two are already moving to the next room. She looks around, then down at her feet where the bag of groceries lies. Grabbing it, she moves to the kitchen area and puts it on the counter. What she really wants to do is leave, but for some odd reason she really wants to meet Henry. His name, just as Kathryn's, sounds awfully familiar.

With a huff, she yanks at the fridge door, and an egg falls over and breaks on the concrete floor. "Great," she mumbles, "why do I keep cleaning after you, miss Swan." A strange feeling courses through her body and she stills for a moment as if about to remember something very important, but a shake of head has her back on track.

* * *

"You literally just told me that she has amnesia..." Sam says, closing her bedroom door behind her. "She's not the same, Emma. She's not the same woman that you knew from 2 years ago, she's someone else entirely."

"You don't know that," Emma childishly protests because Sam really doesn't know anything. Not that sister Regina is similar to Mayor Regina, or even to Queen Regina, but that's the thing; taking away all her memories and practically giving her a second chance at life without the influence of anything or anyone, does it make her the real Regina or is she someone else? And that's the million dollar question, isn't it?

She really should work on that list and get it over with...

"She has amnesia...she doesn't have her memories, that doesn't mean she's not the same person. Maybe she was always like this...and plus...I didn't know her when she was younger, Sam. You know...before the 'becoming a bitchy mayor' part. All of this is new to me."

Sam just raises her brows, looking at Emma worridley. The woman had just proved herself wrong, and she'd done it without even realizing. Perhaps she is somewhat interested in the brunette, Sam thinks, because she's not sure she's ever seen her friend this lost and disoriented. Plus, Sam knows for a fact that Emma's not as straight as she lets on, of that she has proof. "So you're saying she's always been a bigoted nun, prejudiced against homosexuality and what...sinners and 'sinful acts'? Emma, you said she was a mayor."

Emma bites on her lower lip for a few pauses. Now that she thinks about it, Regina didn't seem like the type to judge people's sexual orientation. In fact, Regina herself, had some pretty solid rumors flying around about her preferences. Well, as solid as a rumor can be. "She was definitely a bigoted jerk...but I-I don't think she had anything against homosexuality. Plus I'm not gay...so maybe I overreacted a bit.."

Sam laughs at this because it sounded like Emma had volunteered that information to convince herself rather than anyone else, and she was doing an awful job at it. "Uh...okay," she says, "but everyone is a little gay, honey, just on different levels." Before Emma has a chance to whine again, Sam is pulling her out the door and into the kitchen once more. "Now lets get this over with."

* * *

The time Regina spends on making the pie is filled with awkward silence, and Sam and Emma talk-texting each other as to not let Regina notice. The hour is almost eight, and Henry's still fast asleep.

"How long till it's done baking?" Sam asks, sitting on the stool and keeping Regina's company. Emma's lying on the couch, munching on one of Henry's donuts. Only two remain in the box.

"About 10 more minutes, and then we have to let it cool down for a while."

"Can we put it in the fridge?" Sam asks, eyeing the oven in anticipation.

Regina looks over at Sam, wondering why suddenly the blonde is being nice to her. Was it something she said, or is she faking it so she could eat her pie. But...everything is so confusing, she thinks, nothing makes sense anymore. "Umm...what was the question again?"

"Can we put it in the fridge to let it cool down?"

Regina shakes her head, "we either leave it out for about an hour, or there's another method...but we need ice."

"Oh," Sam says, looking up at the clock. It is almost late, but she can make it to the mini market just two miles away to get the ice. It would require her to actually move, but it's better than waiting an hour. "Okay," she says, texting Emma.

"Hey, pighead, get the door when delivery guy gets here. Don't 4get 2 tip." She walks over to the coat closet, puts on her jacket, and leaves the house.

Emma glares at her friend as she leaves her alone with Regina. She looks the kitchen's direction and sees that the brunette's watching as the pie continue to brown. Her phone sounds then, and she looks down at it and sees another text from Sam:

"Talk to her. For Henry."

Emma inhales a deep breath. Fucking everyone know that she would do anything for that kid. For Henry..for Henry...she mocks in her head, do this for Henry..do that for Henry. With a huff, she gets on her feet and attaches the her phone in the charger and leaves it on the computer table.

"Hey," she says, walking to stand behind Regina.

The brunette jumps as she turns around, her veil flying and smacking her in the face. Emma chuckles, immediately moving closer, and readjusting the fabric. "Is it okay to show this much hair," she says, looking at Regina's forehead.

The brunette bites on the insides on her cheeks, "it's because I'm a sister," she tells her.

"What's the difference?" Emma asks, but Regina remains quiet. "I'm sorry," the blonde says, dropping her hand from Regina's veil and looking away. "You have your beliefs, and I have mine." Up close, Regina really does look much younger. Emma wants nothing more than to get to know this woman, but things are starting to become difficult. If she were to do this, one of them has to be the bigger person. And while Regina is certainly much better in this calmer version, Emma is starting to miss the old Regina.

The one she'd been looking for for two years now.

Regina takes a step back, but they're still so close it's starting to suffocate her. "I am sorry, too. I don't know what's gotten into me. Sometimes I feel like a different person-" She looks up at Emma then, and gasps as she feels the blonde's arms wrap around her in a loose embrace.

For a minute, Regina just stands there. She doesn't dare move, or even blink. She does, however, feel like her heart is beating out of her chest; banging against her bones and skin with such force and speed. She lets out the breath she'd been holding, and replaces it with a new one. She can feel Emma tightening the embrace for a second, before she starts pulling back.

But she doesn't want her to pull back, and also, she doesn't want to hug her back. Perhaps, she thinks, it isn't Emma that has been falling into sin. Perhaps it is her that had been infatuated with the blonde since day one. Because really, what does she really know about herself from before the memory loss?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

And why does she have Emma's locket? Could she have been? Everything certainly points to that direction, Regina thinks, but whether she might have been...gay Or..she might have been not. Either way, she doesn't want Emma to let go. Not yet anyway. Before Emma could fully retreat, Regina lifts her hands and clutches at Regina's button-down blouse. The material feels good under her skin, and the way Emma smells is oddly familiar.

She takes a deep breath then, resting her head on Emma's neck. "Forgive me," she says, a few tears racing down her cheeks. Surely God would forgive her, she hopes.

"I forgive you," Emma says, oblivious to Regina's intentions. Oblivious to her state of mind.

* * *

A/N2: Regina will meet Henry in the next chapter, promise.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owner.

A/N: Difficult chapter to write. Also, I know I could've added the rest of the dinner scene to the previous chapter, but I wanted you guys to feel that a few hours had passed from chapter 5 and chapter 6.

**Braule:** Good feelings I hope!

**Drifterr:** Thank you for your comment, yes Regina is definitely struggling and will continue to struggle for a while longer I'm afraid.

**JFJD:** No more knots I hope, but after this chapter...

**AlexanderiaVE:** I know Emma's acting like she's a child, but even in the show she acts like a child. That's why it's taking her extra time to see that Regina's different now, and that she's not responsible for the new version of Regina because she's not really Regina. Just a fragment. Emma will definitely realize that she's 'seducing' Regina, though, and it will be painful. T-T

**Regal Panda99 & all the lovely guest reviewers:** Thank you for your comments. Also, whoever is telling their friends about my fic, I hope great things happen to you. xD

**Gunner4Life:** Thank you. I am well and getting better, hope that lasts! As for Emma realizing that she's 'seducing' it will come, I promise. But sometimes people in denial can be so coped up in their little bubble that they quite literally can't see what's right in front of them. And I'm writing this story as if it picked up right from the scene Regina and she saved the town.

**Desipz:** Thank you for reading, give your friend a kiss for me. xD

* * *

Sister

6

Despite being on edge, dinner was fairly nice. Emma stayed civil and Regina didn't bring the whole 'gay' thing up again. Sam, on her part, was the subject moderator and had spent a great deal of time steering the two woman away from heavy topics like what is Henry's other mother like and where is she now if not with her son.

Thank god for the gift of Samantha, Emma had found herself thinking, because without her she would've definitely messed everything up before Henry got a chance to meet Regina which looks like it won't happen any time soon this evening. He's not to blame, though, Henry did go through so much in the past few days and so Emma is not surprised that he doesn't even stir when she tries to wake him up for the second time tonight.

"Sorry," Emma says, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Regina. "He's not waking up..."

Sam enters the living room, but seeing the two women have a private conversation, hushed voices and all, she turns around and walks back to her room. They need this, she concludes, and she can only hope that Emma won't screw everything up. While her blonde friend remains oblivious to her own ministrations, Sam wonders if Regina's already on to her. Well, maybe not, but it won't be long till the cat is out the bag.

"It's alright, please don't try to wake him up again. He's a young boy and I think between traveling and...growing up, he's allowed to be this tired." Regina smiles, and watches as Emma nods then takes another sip from her beer.

"Do you want me to stop," Emma says, placing the can on the table.

Regina shakes her head, "only because it's not good for you. And for some odd reason...I worry." She leans and grabs the can, her face contorting in disgust before she holds it up to Emma. "But I won't tell you what to do in your own home," she says, and Emma accepts the beer, taking one last sip before tossing it in the trash can.

"Thank you," Emma says, and she's suddenly aware of their close proximity. When did that happen? She inches away from Regina, feeling a buzz in her head. She didn't drink much, but beer coupled with drowsiness from lack of sleep would certainly do the trick.

"You would love him," Emma tells her, "Henry I mean. He's such a good kid...Regina-" Catching herself, "..his other mother...she did a good job in raising him. I couldn't have done a better job myself."

Regina smiles in response, but turns her face to the side as she suppresses a yawn. For the life of her she can't begin to understand why she's this sleepy. _It's only._..She glances at the clock perched up on the wall. _It's nearly one a.m. _Well, she's already in trouble, anyway. There's no sense in fretting over spilt milk. She'll deal with father Sebastian when she gets home...if she can still call it that after tonight.

Unaffected by Regina's abrupt silence, Emma continues, "she may have been...not the best person, but she definitely the best mother I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." She finishes, and mentally shakes her head for saying too much.

"It sounds like you two..." Regina trails because she'd promised herself not to bring it up again, but if she were to finish her sentence, she would say that it definitely sounds like Emma and Henry's adoptive mother hold some special feelings for one another.

"It sounds like you two are very close," Regina says. "I gathered that she's no around Henry any longer, did she..."

And Emma catches on, "no, she's alive. In a way, she's...sleeping. Somewhere where no one can reach her...she's lost and I think maybe she doesn't want anyone to help her...I'm not sure and that's why I'm trying to make sense of it all. I'm trying to be logical and not be affected by my own reasons and completely forget her own reasons...and it's just...complicated." She can tell Regina's confused, but Emma doesn't know what to tell her without actually telling her. Everything hurts and she's starting to get a migrane.

"Anyway...she's not around any more, and it's hard...but I think there will be a day when she'll find her way back to us," she smiles then, and is surprised to find Regina smiling back at her; albeit hers is filled with sadness that Emma can't explain.

"I don't know the whole situation, but I will pray that she finds her way back to you, Emma." Regina stands up slowly, and looks down at Emma as she struggles to say her next words. She doesn't understand why her heart suddenly feels tight, but she doesn't like it and wants out right now.

This woman Emma's speaking of like she's some sort of saint, and that smile Emma has...it's doing something to her logical part of her brain; she can feel it shrinking inside her head like someone had reached inside her head and licked it clean. But she smiles nonetheless, mustering up whatever patience she has left, "this was really fun, Emma, but I really should be on my way. It is quite late and father Sebastian is probably wondering where I am."

"It's not that late," Emma says, standing up and turning to face the wall. "Oh...is it already one," she murmurs to herself, and when she turns around, Regina's already by the door. "Wait, let me try to wake Henry up again," she begs more than she offers, and wonders if Regina, too, can feel that maybe after tonight, everything will be so much harder.

And so much complicated.

"No," Regina says, and then shakes her head at Emma's disappointed look. "He should get his rest. There will be other opportunities, right?"

Emma moves closer, standing right in front of Regina, "right," she mumbles under hear breath, but she feels that maybe there won't be another time. Why would Regina continue to associate herself with her if all she sees her as is a sinner. Someone who's not worthy of a nun's time or patience.

"Promise," Emma asks, her hand lifting to Regina's forearm. "Swear you won't just bail on me."

Regina looks down at Emma's hand, then back at her face, "are you really going to make a sister swear?" She feigns offense.

Emma's eyes widen for a moment but then narrow at the brunette before her. She squeezes at Regina's forearm, "ha ha, sister Regina. I hadn't a clue you have such a cute sense of humor."

Regina chuckles, her hand coming to rest on Emma's hand for a quick squeeze before it falls next to her body. "We're human, too." She tells her, taking a step back, severing the physical connection with the blonde. "But if you feel safer, then I promise I will meet your son." She turns to face the door, but then looks back, "but that's one out of the three favors I owe you." She raises a brow, and Emma could swear she sees Mayor Regina and not sister Regina.

"I'm impressed," Emma says, stepping out the house along side Regina. She closes the door behind her, and turns to face the brunette, "It's late. 'll walk you home."

* * *

Ruby opens the door to the back door at Granny's diner, and lets a slimmer version of David walk inside. She wonders if the man knows he's gotten quite paler over the past few weeks. All this Snow flipping shit must have affected him more than her let on, and really, Ruby can't blame him. This was the love of his life they were talking about it; this was her best friend and her sister.

"Did she answer you?" Ruby asks.

David shakes his head in the negative, "I think she got a new phone. You know Emma. When she's pissed..she's really pissed."

"Yeah, sounds like someone we know." Ruby says, rubbing at her forehead. "We'll..I don't think we can keep the fact that Henry ran away from Snow any longer. We have to tell her, or she'll think we're betraying her."

"We are betraying her!" David says, "this is what we're doing, aren't we? Going behind her back...plotting against her."

"No," Ruby says, "she brought this upon herself. She pushed us against a corner, David, and we're only pushing back. Plus, when she's herself again, she will thank us."

"Not for this," David repeats, "not for going behind her back." Because no matter how in love they are, he knows Snow would probably find it difficult to forget how her husband and her best friend had teamed against her and were about to start a civil war.

Behind the door, stands a shocked blue fairy with her hands pressed against her lips. She can understand that maybe Snow White's going too far with her revenge against Regina, but she will not keep this from her queen. _Prince Charming and Red will pay for their little love affair._

* * *

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Emma jokes as Henry enters the kitchen area. His hair is mussed, and he looks like a clown that had gone to bed in his makeup.

"Morning," he mumbles, grabbing his donut box. "What the frick, Emma?" He complains, munching on the remains of what looks like half a donut. "There were like five in here, did you eat them all?"

"Yeah, sorry, but I have something even better for you," she says, opening the fridge and talking out the apple pie tupperware. She places a slice on a plate, reheats it for a few seconds, then pushes it towards Henry.

"What's this?"

"That, my friend, is the best apple pie you will ever taste." She tells him, suppressing the urge to get a fork of her own and dig in with Henry, but she already ate like half the pie.

"That's impossible, mom makes the best apple pies in the wor-" He falls silent as he can clearly taste his mother's signature pie of creamy, crunchy and absolutely delicious taste. Something is missing, though, but it's pretty damn close to what his mom used to make him.

"Did mom make this?" Henry asks, putting down the fork and swallowing roughly. He's feeling a bit emotional, but if Emma noticed she doesn't show it.

"Yeah. She came over here yesterday to meet you, but you were fast asleep-"

"-Why didn't you wake me!?"

Emma wants to tell him that she did try, but she has a feeling that he would still be mad at her. So she chooses to tell him the good news, "don't worry. You'll meet her soon. Today, if you want to." She nods once at her son, then puts the pie container back in the fridge. "But Henry," she says in a voice barely above a whisper, "there's something you need to know."

When she turns to face him, Henry is all ears.

* * *

"Wait a minute, Henry. You can't just barge in and..." She looked at him, holding his wrist tight. "What are you planning to do? She doesn't know anything and I don't want to tell her yet. She's too caught up in this church cra- ordeal, and something like this would definitely put a dent in her sanity. She won't handle it well."

"Ma," Henry says, looking down at her and shaking his head. "I know what I'm doing," he tells her. "Now," he says, yanking her phone from her hand and clicking through it, "if you think this list is fair." He shakes his head, "it's really not."

"How did you know- did you go through my phone!?" Emma scolds, dragging her son to the side of the building and allowing people to pass by her. They go through the door and she can hear one of them wonder how many animals they killed to make her jacket. The answer is not even one. Fake leather is usually that way; incredibly harmless.

"I did," he says, "but not because I wanted to stumble upon your list. I was just texting David since they're probably wondering where I am right now, and it seems like you've been ignoring all their calls and messages. And before you ask, no I don't have my phone."

"Why? What happened to it?"

Henry looks down, remembering that he had to give the device away in exchange for a bus ticket. His mom's credit card would've worked just fine if he had a computer, or at least a connection, but he hadn't and he'd been miles away from Storybrooke and from civilization. Bert's daughter must be so happy she got an iPhone, Henry thinks.

"Long story, but I don't have one." He shrugs, and leans in to whisper his next words, "I talked to grandpa, by the way, and he says he's working on getting Grandma back on track. Ruby is helping him and they wanted me to ask if you would help them, too."

"Over my dead body," Emma deadpanned. It is so funny how they expect her to save their asses whenever they find themselves in a tough situation. She was always Emma, it is them that added savior to her name when she just wanted to be Emma.

"That's what I thought. I told grandpa that we wanna stay out of it...but if you want to work with them, ma, I will follow you anywhere."

Emma smiles, "thanks, Henry. But you did good. It just sounds to me like they're scheming around just like Mary Margaret did to make me come back."

"So we do nothing?"

"Sometimes doing nothing is everything, Henry." She looks up at the sky, letting out a sigh, then her gaze finds the entrance to the church. "Want me to call her out here? Regina...your mom?"

Henry nods, "please."

It is with great dread that Emma nods at her son, then walks through the door. When she reaches the chapel, though, she is greeted by father Sebastian and two sisters. "Hello," they tell her.

"Can I help you, miss Emma?"

Emma looks up at him and sighs, "is Regina here?" she asks, looking away from the man, and addressing the younger looking sister. "I need to speak with her."

"Oh," sister Julie says, "you're sister Regina's friend from before. Well, sister Regina is not here at the moment-"

"-Where is she?" Emma cuts her in impatiently. She knows she shouldn't be so rude, but she can't help it. This place gives her bitter feelings and brings back old memories she'd rather not think about. "I thought she lived here."

"She does, but right now she's filling in for mother-" sister Julie stops herself, and father Sebastian nods for her to go help one of the praying men struggling with his cane.

"I am sorry, miss Emma, but we can't disclose the location of any of the members of our family. It is mainly for safety can understand that." His arms cross behind his back, and he gives her a small smile.

Emma nods, "of course. I will wait for her, then, don't worry." She rolls her eyes, and with long strides, exists the building. She hopes that in the future she will never have to visit this place again. But she will visit this place in the future; near future at that.

"Hey, buddy," Emma says, walking over to the benching placed on the side of the church. Henry's looking at the garden and broken fountain.

"It doesn't work," he tells her, pointing to the fountain. "Wouldn't it be beautiful if it did? Such a pity..." He looks at his mother, and Emma can tell Henry means more than the fountain, but she doesn't know what to tell him. She can tell him that everything will be alright, but she, herself, is not sure anything will ever be alright.

Not with Regina. Not with her parents, and not with Storybrooke.

"I can fix it," she looks at him.

"You can?" He asks, standing up and moving to examine the fountain. "How can you fix it? Do you even know how?"

Emma bites on her lower lip, standing next to her son, "I will probably need tools to take the whole thing apart...then we'll see what the problem is from the root." She pats the swans head, "and if she's a good girl, we'll get her working in no time."

"You can fix it?" Emma and Henry hear, and they both snap their heads to see as Regina walks up the stairs to them. "It's been broken for ever," she says, swatting away dead leaves and examining the fountain.

After a few moments, she looks up at Emma, "do you know how to fix it?" She asks, and Emma wants to laugh, but also she wants to cry at how Regina and Henry sounded exactly the same.

"Probably," Emma says, "I've always been good with my hands. But I will need tools-" Emma's eyes widen as she witnesses her son, wrapping his arms around his adoptive mother's petite body and pulling her in a tight embrace. She opens her mouth several times to say something, but like a useless loose lid, it falls right closed.

"Young man," Regina finally says, her right hand gently pushing Henry away. Her other hand is on his waist, but it's not pushing him, too, It's just there, almost pulling him towards her. It's a bit disorienting the way her body is contradicting itself, and Regina feels like there's something important she should remember, but the feeling is so strong, so sharp, she freezes in place- completely unmoving as her eyes train themselves on Emma for a silent plea.

"Henry," Emma whispers, "come on buddy. Let go-" She grabs his arm, but he yanks it away from her grasp with so much force, Emma is shocked to say the least. He looks at her...no, he glares at her like he's marking his territory, before his hand is back on Regina and he's burying his face against her shoulder.

"Henry," she says again, her voice louder and filled with aggravation. "Let. Go," she tells him but he doesn't listen to her, and it looks like he's completely shut her off from existence.

"Henry," she grits out, her hand gripping on his forearm once more, but he yanks it away with more force than the first time. His head snapping up and he's glaring at her again.

If she says she wasn't offended, Emma would be lying. She looks up at him, unable to stop her tears from falling. Hot and fast, and strangely heavy, streaming down her face. A few drops manage to slip past her lips, and the saltness of it merges with the bitterness inside her mouth. Regina's watching, she shouldn't cry, but she can't help it. It feels like rejection...no, she knows she's being rejected right now.

She knows Henry misses Regina, but he has that look on his face. A look that says this is the mother that chose me, and he's absolutely right. Regina had been the one that chose him. Nurtured him, gave him a home, gave him love, and everything he needed.

He's just emotional after going without his adoptive mother for two years. That has to be it and nothing else. Henry's happy, and he's sad, and he feels victimized, and that's okay. And Emma understands that it'd been Regina who'd been there for him for the first ten years of his life so she has to be someone special; she really does understand. But that doesn't mean she's okay with being treated like she's...

Like she's...some sort of hand-me-down person. Like she doesn't matter.

"Emma?" Regina says in a low voice, her gaze never leaving the blonde.

Emma wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, and looks up at Regina with a smile on her face, "Regina," she says, "meet Henry, my son."

Regina's eyes widen, "Henry? Your son?" she mouths, and Emma nods, mouthing back the words 'I'm sorry' to which Regina shakes her head, dismissing Emma's apology.

Then Regina's hands are on Henry's back, and she's pulling him closer. The knowledge that it's Emma's son making it easier for her to accept him. She trusts Emma, and by extension, she will trust her young boy. It still feels a bit odd for her to hug him, but she goes through with it nonetheless.

For Emma.

The woman who had showed her what it feels like to have a friend. To fee connected with someone, even if their friendship is blurred with unnamed feelings and heavy emotions, she still feels like Emma is her one and only family. So if hugging Emma's son would bring her closer to Emma, then she would do that for Emma.

Regina rubs Henry's back, and it's then that she notices that he's crying. The fabric covering her shoulder is getting damper and stickier, and she hears a small whimper escape his mouth that confirms Henry's status. Her arms tighten around him,"it's okay," she whispers, "shushh..it's okay."

Emma watches the exchange before her, her tears are pitiful and she feels just as pathetic. With one last glance at her son and his adoptive...his real mother, she walks away.

She walks up a hill, then jogs down a hill, and then she's running. Her legs are racing with her heartbeats, and she's sweating profously. She also doesn't know where she's going, but it hurts so much to thinks about what just happened, so she keeps going. And running helps, just as it always had.

For a while, at least, until her legs and knees give up and she's stumbling on the ground, face first. She groans out in pain as she struggles to get to her feet; her bloody, filled-with-blisters feet that will forever remind her not to run away, not when it matters most, not when fighting for what she wants makes the difference between first and second place.

Those same feet that had helped her run away from everything in the past, are struggling against the strange pull she feels with the ground beneath her. Like the whole universe is telling her that this is a race she can never win. She will always be second best, and that's not changing any time soon.

So she stops. She stops running, and she starts walking with the revelation in mind that running away from things does not make them disappear. Just like running away from her parents will not make them stop being her parents, in the same logic, running away from Henry and Regina will not solve anything.

She walks all the way to her house, and grabs Sam's tool box. And before she knows it, she's back at the church, watching as Henry and Regina chat beside the broken fountain.

She will fix it, she concludes, just like she's going to fix that damn fountain, she will fix her relationship with her son.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to their respectful owners.

A/N: Hello all~ This chapter was difficult to write. T-T I cried..not..gonna...even...lie

**Guest reviewers:** Thank you! :D

**JFJD:** Almost right, but there's more to why Henry reacted the way he did. ;)

**ghostperfect:** This whole fic is making me so emotional I swear it's like a pack of onions!

**AlexandriaVE:** She will fix the fountain, do not worry, and I really struggled with making Regina accept the hug or not, but she's always been doing anything that Emma tells her to do so she would accept it for Emma, I think.

**Gunner4Life:** I think that when I started this whole fic, one of the things I wanted to write about is what if the 'good guys' end up walking in the 'bad guys' shoes. Emma feeling second best, even though Henry had always been making her feel so much loved. Snow doing to Regina what Regina did to her, and then getting lost in revenge when it doesn't work the way she wanted it to work. The townspeople finally understanding that it is because of Regina that they became so united, and now we will watch as the town divides into small groups without a common enemy.

**betterthanbefore:** Thank you, and I hope you weren't too sad!

**Nice:** You are actually supposed to feel that way, my friend. It is weird, but there's a good reason behind it I promise!

* * *

Sister

7

She wants to ask him, but Henry looks so defeated at the moment and she's never seen him cry this passionately before; perhaps passionate is not the word for it, but he did sound like he was in so much pain and Emma can't help but think that she's the cause behind it. Because if she is the reason her son is unusually forthcoming with his emotions, then she will do whatever it takes to make it all better.

But then again, would he even want her to 'make things better' now that he found Regina?

"Ma?" Henry prods as they continue to walk down hill. Regina had been called to assist father Sebastian shortly after Emma had returned and ever since then, Henry hadn't said a word to her. Until now, that is, "I...I'm sorry about before," he starts, not really wishing to have this conversation, but immensely wanting to clear the bad air before it gets too thick. "What happened when...when I hugged mom."

Emma takes in a deep breath at how her son looks so small, feeling like a complete asshole for making him look that way, he has always, always been the strong one between the two of them. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looks at Henry and smiles in a way that shows she's dismissing his apology. Not because she doesn't want to accept it, but because she doesn't really deserve it. And she should learn to have more control over her emotions, Emma knows that now, she should understand that not everything revolves around her.

Henry, her perfect son, he looks like he's about to cry again, and Emma finds she's not at all angry with him any more, she's more devastated at his sadness. "It's okay, buddy, I know-" she starts, but Henry cuts her in with a sharp voice.

"No!" He says, almost shouting. "You don't know..." he whispers in defeat, and Emma really doesn't know, but how can he tell her what Regina's been through as she was being...

He shakes his head, and shakes the memories away. He hadn't thought about this since he arrived to San Francisco, and he plans on burying that memory deep in the back of his head along with other childhood scars; to never ever speak of again. "I mean...I have a pretty good reason why I acted the way I did..." He looks down at his birthmother, and Henry smiles. He smiles. And it's a smile that is utterly overwhelming, Emma can feel her heart break to pieces. It is then she realizes; he's hiding something.

"What aren't you telling me?" She asks in alarm, and Henry shakes his head fiercely like he has no plans of ever telling her his secret, and she would be right in that assessment.

"Henry," she persists.

"Ma, I can't say anything." He doesn't know how.

"Henry."

"I can't tell you anything, I really can't," he says with finality, "but I just want you to know that I didn't mean to push you away...that was," he trails, looking away from his mother's shiny eyes. "That wasn't meant for you."

_So it was meant for someone else? _

_Whom? _

She wants to know. Oh boy she does. The wheels in her head instantly start working to place two and two. Her fingers are itching to point to the person Henry's talking about, but she can't come up with a single name. Who would Henry try to keep away from Regina? Everyone, but also, no one. So far, no one had dared lay a finger on the former mayor. Not even her worst enemies.

_Unless they know Regina's harmless and entirely powerless..._

With bitter realization, Emma looks at her son; really looks at him, and it is then she decides to drop the subject, for now at least. Which is quite generous since usually Emma would press and press until the person in front of her breaks, but every sign is telling her that now is not the time for that. Henry's in a very delicate place, she can sense it with every cell in her body.

Shaking her head clear of such negativity, "so," she says, playfully pushing at Henry's forearm, "want to tell me how you lost your phone?"

Henry growls, but there's a sincere smile on his face as he answers his mother, "I don't want to tell you, but I will since you're gonna have to buy me a new one."

"Ha ha," Emma says, thinking about her empty wallet. There's no way she could afford buying Henry another phone. Those things are sold for gold, and she doesn't have enough money for next week's rent which is sad considering Sam is charging her next to nothing. But still, she doesn't even have that much, Henry would have to go without a phone for at least a month or two.

Henry laughs at his mother's insistent need to joke, but then he stops and looks at his mother in wonder, "you're serious? You won't get me a new phone...?"

"Buddy, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't."

* * *

"Is this really what you want to be doing?" Sam asks, eyeing the run-down bookstore Emma had applied at for a part-time. The place is not as bad as it looks from the outside, but Sam can't fathom how Emma could sit around all day, 'tending' to the store while doing absolutely nothing of the fun kind. Who would ever want to do that?

Plenty, actually. There's an actual list the manager has to go through to hire the right person for the job, and Emma is not surprised because even though it is located in a somewhat cellar neighborhood -just a 5 minute walk from her place- how much they're paying is more than enough to get her through the month and then some more.

Sam suspects a murder had took place in the store, or perhaps it is merely a front to money laundering; either way, the older blonde doesn't like it. "They're celling drugs," she whispers, placing her chin on Emma's shoulder, her arms resting on Emma's hips. "There's no way they're paying this much for this boring job. Something is definitely wrong, and you know it."

"Would you relax," Emma tells her, but even as she's saying that, her mind is working through the possibilities of Sam being right.

"Do you speak French?" The manager, Lee, asks as he walks out from the back room, and Emma shakes her head a no.

"Would that be a necessity?"

"No," Lee says, "it would do you good if you don't speak French, actually." He checks a box, and then bites on his lower lip. When he suddenly looks up and stares at Sam, Sam shrieks back and her arms sways, smacking a few books to the floor and knocking down a vase. Lee sighs, making his way to them from behind the counter.

"Uh...I'm sorry," Sam says, going into full panic mode. "We'll just leave, please don't kill us we promise not to tell anyone about your money laundering!" She gasps as she realizes what she'd blurted out, and takes a step back, clasping a hand over her mouth.

Lee looks at her in wonder, but then he huffs out air, leaning down to pick up the discarded books. "Well now that you know our secret, there's no way you're leaving this room alive."

"Please!" Sam pleads, "I'm almost 7 months pregnant and I still have pie left in the fridge...please, just at least let me finish that pie it's the most amazing pie I've ever tasted my entire life and it's a shame-"

Lee glances at Emma, and then he's flat out laughing. And then Emma is laughing, too, and she's laughing so hard, it's one of those soundless laughs where you look like someone who's going through an electrical shock to the brain.

Sam closes her eyes in realization, and wishes for a typhoon to come get her. The moment is brief, but she will remember it for the rest of her life, and she knows Emma will bring it up whenever she feels like making fun of her.

"She's about to die and all she's thinking about is food," Lee says through chuckles. He looks at Sam in awe, "you're funny," he says, "I like you." He then addressed a reddened Emma, "the job is yours if you can start next week. A couple of things I need to warn you about..the boss, aside from being a drug lord, she's a cranky bitch. Can't blame her though. A couple of years ago she got into an accident that left her nearly blind, and now she's taking it out on her employees."

He walks over to the counter as Emma helps Sam to her feet, "this," he hands her the paper, "a few things not to say to her. There's also a list of things to say. At times, she will curse you in French, but since you don't understand it, then just don't give her any attention. As for the paycheck...well, I know you're wondering why it's a lot, but if you decide to work here, you will know why it's almost double my salary."

Emma glances at the paper in hand, then up at Lee, then at Sam. She knows this could be a lot more than she could handle, but she's been around mayor Regina, how hard this French woman could make her life? She's certainly not gonna try to put her in a sleeping curse, that's for sure.

"I'll be here Monday morning," she tells him, and Lee smiles.

"Good," he says, "I hope you stick around longer than the others," he finishes as he smirks at Sam.

* * *

"He likes you," Emma tells her friend as they walk down the street to their house. After handing in the job application, they headed over to Subway to grab some lunch.

"I know," Sam rolls her eyes, "it's the pregnant-woman shine that's attracting him."

"What the hell?" Emma says, but Sam just smiles at her.

"You had it, too, big girl. You might have been a pain in the ass, but you were practically glowing."

Emma opens her mouth, but doesn't say anything. There's nothing to say.

* * *

"I'm going out," Henry tells her, treading down the stairs. It's been almost five days since the whole debacle with Regina, and ever since then Henry had started using Sam's make-shift gym located in the room just beneath the attic. Henry's thinking of moving there, the attic, and he's been secretly cleaning the place up, but he won't ask Emma's permission until it's ready. He would show her that the place is actually liable to harbor a small human being.

"Where to?" Emma asks, yawning as she continues to play angry birds on her phone.

"I've been helping Jar Jar from across the street box his stuff," he tells her, "do you know where me shoes are?" Henry asks.

"What?" Emma says, dropping her phone and looking up at her son. "That sounds like a lie."

Henry spots his shoes, grabs them, and flops down next to Emma on the couch. "It's not," he tells her, "why would you even say that?"

"Because his name is Jar Jar Binks," she deadpans, making a mental note to buy Henry a new shoes, they look like he'd been running on mud on a rainy day.

"I never said Binks, you added that on your own. His name is Jeremiah, but everyone calls him Jar Jar, and don't ask me why because I don't know anything and I didn't ask him."

"Okay," Emma rolls her eyes, "easy, buddy, I'm not trying to pick a fight."

Henry bites on the inside of his cheeks, "I know," he tells her, and he does know. Emma had been the perfect mother so far; not pushing him to tell her anything about what happened with his grandparents or the little incident with Regina. She'd even stopped bugging him about leaving his dirty laundry all over his room.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, "for snapping at you."

Emma bites on her lower lip, reminiscing of a day when those exact words were said to her by another Mills. Like mother like son, she thinks, ruffling Henry's hair. "I can't say I like the way you've been behaving, kid, but I can understand that sometimes we need our personal space to deal with things." She pulls him in a hug then, "just know that whenever you're ready to talk, I'll be here."

She pulls back, "just don't over-think stuff, that's what gets us into trouble."

Henry nods, looking down for a moment before standing up, "so? You want to meet Jar Jar? He's gonna give me fifty bucks for boxing and when the time comes, he says I can help him move the boxes for another fifty."

"Hey," Emma says proudly, "that's like half the price of an iPhone."

"Yeah," he says in a duh-voice, "that's why I'm working my ass off."

"What the hell?" Emma exclaims, "language!"

"You're one to talk, miss Swan!" Henry says, chuckling at Emma's surprised expression. But seeing that expression turn into something far more softer, more tender, Henry leans down and pulls his mother into a hug. Perhaps he's not the only one who terribly misses his mother, because the way Emma was looking at him just now, tells him a whole other story.

"Hey, I think that..." Henry says as he pulls away and walks over to the door, "I think that tomorrow after dinner, I will tell you everything, Ma. We can sit down and try to figure things out...together."

Emma smiles, "I'd like that, Henry." And then he's gone, and Emma's left smiling like a fool, repeating the word 'together' in her head. She stays there for a good few minutes, having no clue what to do from now on, but knowing that it's gonna be okay; she's gonna be okay, Henry's gonna be okay, and even Regina's gonna be okay, somehow.

Somehow, together they will fix this.

* * *

Regina is sure it's been almost fifteen days since she last saw Emma, if not more than that. But as usual, she had no real method of communicating with her other than dropping by her house, and that didn't end too well the last time she's done it. Or perhaps, it didn't quite start well, but had ended on a happy note is she may say. For her, at least, because she doesn't know about Emma but being accompanied home because it's too dark outside to walk alone had made Regina's heart soar and try to escape through her throat.

She had literally thought her chest would combust and explode at how intense her emotions were. She'd been glad she made it home in one piece, though, and for that she had thanked the lord.

All that, but after getting scolded for practically spending the night out, she's done. Regina's so done. She's done with the church dictating her every move, done with father Sebastian telling her what she can and can't do, and she's done with mother for Andrea dumping her load of work on her. She has other people to tend to, if mother Andrea could understand that.

It's not a lie, though, Regina wants to help, yes, but it won't do when most of the time it is she who needs help and guidance. It is she who feels like the world around her is crumbling down, and everything is starting to make less sense as the days go by; more specifically, the days after she'd met Emma.

The beautiful blonde who had been her first and only friend, and the one person Regina feels she can trust; It is unexplained, but it's still there, reminding her all too well that what she's doing, or feeling, does not come close to normal, even for a woman who's not religiously attached. Something is certainly amiss, and she knows she should stop this madness immediately, but how? How can she possibly stop thinking about Emma?

_There's no way. _

But there is, Father Sebastian had told her. She can go back to devoting herself to Jesus Christ, she can go back to the beginning and fall in love with him all over again. He, her lord, would guide her and lighten up the right path to happiness. She will see it, father had told her, she will feel it in her bones when the signs are so clear she can no longer ignore them.

So she prays, sitting down on the bench next to a few other religious persons. She clasps her hands tightly together, closing her eyes, and lifting her chin to her lord, Jesus Christ, and she spills her secrets to him.

He's always listening, father Sebastian's voice echos in her head.

And so she tells him with every tear that slips past her eyelids, she tells him to help her. To show her the path she's supposed to walk because she doesn't know anymore. Nothing makes sense, and she can't ask anyone else's help because they wouldn't understand. They would judge her, and they would condemn her for her unwanted, unexplained, unprecedented feelings that are coursing through her veins, merging with her blood, making it impossible to differentiate life from death. Because that's what she feels will happen to her should Emma decide to up and leave, taking away her feelings with her; taking away Regina's blood, her life.

The line between right and wrong, and for the first time, is so damn blurry to Regina. She knows. She knows she shouldn't be attached to someone as much as she's attached to Emma. Life is not supposed to be about love, money or materials, life is supposed to be about serving her heavenly father, and the way she continues to fall deeper and deeper into sin, she's sure the lord would not approve.

So she cries. She negotiates. She She begs, and she puts herself under his mercy. He will open her eyes, he will give her...he will give her...

"Salvation..." And she can't take it anymore, so she gets up on her feet and moves past the stares and judgement of others and finds her way to her room. In there, she finally lets go as her knees hit the floor, her face slams against her bed, her resolve breaking down immediately.

The sounds coming from her as she weeps are painfully heartbreaking. It's hysterical, and it's ugly in it's reasons. She's sure people are starting to gather outside her door, but she doesn't answer anyone. She just wants the pain to stop, and she knows that no one outside her door is capable of doing such thing.

"Leave me alone," she grits out, but reprimands herself at how impatient she had sounded. "Please leave me alone," she says once more, "I am alright, I just need a moment to...to..." She trails, because she needs a moment to do what?

What was she gonna do? Even she doesn't know the answer.

"Please..." she begs again, "please go away! Please...I beg you," and then suddenly the murmurs shimmer down and she hears footsteps disappear into the distance, leaving her alone.

A few deep breaths, inhale, exhale, and then she's pulling at the white collar caging her neck. She takes out Emma's locket, and presses the metal between her palms. Just a few minutes, and the locket changes temperatures from cold to warm. She wishes her heart is this quick to change. She wishes she could take it out, and eliminate every haywire emotion she can find.

Glancing around her room, she wonders if this is what her life will always be, and she doesn't like the sound of that. It is suffocating, almost as much as her christian belief is making her feel.

"Regina," she hears someone call for her, but she's not in the mood to entertain. Her throat is dry and she doesn't want to bother with pleasantries; so silence it is then.

But the voice is calling again, "Regina," it's saying, "everyone's gone, can you open the door?"

Regina's ears perk up, and she can swear she hears Emma. It's Emma's voice and tone; plus no one would speak to her like that, like she's someone special.

"It's Emma," the voice says, and Regina is still frozen in place and no one can blame her because that's the main source of her struggles, standing right outside her door. And one thing for sure, the lord does not want her to open the door; it is sin.

"I promise I'm all alone, no one's here. I chased them all away."

Silence.

"Regina I just want to make sure you're okay...it's been five days-"

"Liar!" Regina exclaims, because it can't be just five days that had passed. It felt like an eternity since the last time she'd seen the blonde. This emptiness, this loneliness she feels is a testament to that.

"I swear I'm all alone," Emma repeats, "have I ever lied to you?" she says, and instantly cringes because she had lied to Regina; not to hurt her, of course, but she had lied and it's all the same. "I promise I will leave as soon as I make sure you're okay."

Regina stands on her feet then, taking a step closer to the door; it is completely by reflex, not by choice.

"Regina," Emma says in a low whisper, "just tell me one thing."

Regina takes a step closer, "what?" she says, and then takes another step closer.

"Tell me if you need an out," Emma says, "if you need...like if you need to be saved or something." She's all too embarrassed to say it, but she is the savior, no questions there, so she will do the saving when necessary.

"I saw you crying out there...but I, uh...didn't want to interrupt your prayers, but I kinda got the feeling that maybe you...can you please just open the door, I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to convert you."

Regina's eyes widen, and she can't help the smile spreading across her face. It is amazing, she thinks, and quite possible that just like Emma's locket, her mood can change in mere seconds.

"But aren't you?"

"Aren't I what?"

Regina takes three steps forward, her hand ghosting over the lock, "trying to convert me?"

"What?" Emma exclaims, "that's silly. I don't go by one religion, there's nothing to convert you to." She chuckles then, and continues, "but if I were converting you, would you mind if we did it face to face?"

Regina swallows, "why?" she asks. "Why does it have to be face to face?"

"Uh..you know," Emma stammers, "because you need to be looking at my eyes, they're my secret weapon."

Regina laughs, "they're not your secret weapon," she tells her, her hand instinctively switching the lock open, and pushing the door to reveal the blonde woman. "Your secret weapon is," she starts, but Emma is staring at her with those beautiful jade gems, Regina can't even remember if Emma's real or just a pathetic figment of her imagination.

Her hand tentatively rise to Emma's cheek, and she swipes underneath her eyes. It is then she realizes that she'd opened the door, and there's no way she's ever going to close it again. She can try to resist, and she will, but the blonde would have access to come and go as she pleases and Regina would do nothing about that.

"Regina," Emma says, but she doesn't know what comes after that. Heck, she doesn't even know why she's here right now, other than really wanting to see Regina. Her eyes fall to the brunette's neck then, and she glances around to make sure no one's watching. "Hey," she says, her hands coming up to Regina's neck and readjusting her collar. "Your locket is showing, they might take it away."

Regina's hand cups Emma's fumbling ones, and she takes over the mission of covering herself up once more. "Thank you," she tells her in a low whisper and Emma smiles.

"You're welcome," she says, "look...I know maybe it's too soon to do this again, but would you like to have dinner with me and Henry? I promise there won't be any more surprise attacks." She laughs then, and Regina shakes her head.

"He certainly did take me by surprise, but I'm happy now that I feel like I have a fighting chance. I'm not in last place."

"Hmm?" Emma says, "what do you mean?"

Regina bites on her lower lip, and smiles up at the blonde as she nonchalantly shrugs, "nothing in particular, just Henry told me that I quite resemble his adoptive mother." And then she's moving past Emma, and she's laughing.

"Oh," Emma says, staring at the open door in front of her. She extends her hand, and closes it shut, then turns to face Regina's disappearing figure, "but what do you mean you have a fighting chance?" She asks, following after the brunette.


End file.
